


The Cataclysm

by iPrincezzInuyoukai



Series: New Family [1]
Category: Coraline (2009), Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon), ParaNorman (2012), Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, At the moment they have separate adventures, Bill's an asshole, Birthday Party, Bonds, Character Development, Christmas, Coraline will have the first challenge, Creates an AU they said it will be fun they said, Crossover, Demons and humans living together, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Rivals to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Family, Fear, Greg is Wirt's sunshine and The Beast's desperation, Halloween, Hidden History, Holidays, Human Beast (Over the Garden Wall), Human Bill Cipher, I could have had a life and decided to create this, I've created a monster, Jealousy, Just look at the number of OTPs that this story will have, Life styles very different yet very similar, M/M, Marco's life change with two interdimensional living at his home, Norman is protective of Agatha, Object Head Bill Cipher, Panic Attacks, Protective Siblings, Quinceanera Party, Sassy Bill Cipher, School, Secrets, Several fandoms and I am only one person, Slice of Life, Stan wants to knock out Bill, Star's wand has secrets, That everyone knows, The Cat can talk now, There is a common enemy... Very soon, This happens when I watch too much anime and I heard a lot of music, Triangle Bill Cipher, Trust, Trust Issues, Updates somewhat irregular, Weddings, Wirt Being a Drama Queen, Wirt and the Beast must learn to live together, anger issues, problems with parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7021327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iPrincezzInuyoukai/pseuds/iPrincezzInuyoukai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A statue could have kept hidden in the depths of the forest. </p>
<p>A cemetery wall would not be broken into pieces. </p>
<p>A magical wand would not become unstable. </p>
<p>A girl could continue to rest in peace. </p>
<p>A door to another dimension would continue caging the most dangerous and hungry creature.</p>
<p>But of course, who could imagine that all this would cause a handshake.</p>
<p>Who could imagine that would have big consequences.</p>
<p>Who could imagine that this would cause an imbalance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Earthquake

**Author's Note:**

> Well folks I think this happens when have some free time and see much anime. I just thought I'd do a section of this on my tumblr, I didn’t think I would dare to create a complete series. This is before my [Christmas fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5594758), a prequel and origin of all this mess in my head. I try to let the personality of the characters as cannon as possible, I apologize in advance if they are something OOC.
> 
> Steven Universe and Adventure Time will appear at some point in this story or a continuation, because both series still have outstanding matters in their show but maybe I will tackle at some point. Besides, I needed to write something, some problems are starting to bother me and this is the only way to not get stressed with these issues.
> 
> I hear a lot of music to create this, my playlist have a lot of music in english, spanish, japanese, etc
> 
> I had planned to publish this story the first day of summer due to 'See you next summer'. But I could not wait.
> 
> Not without saying that none of the TV shows or movies belong to me, belong to the creative artists, just the story belongs to me, which I hope you like it.
> 
> Some fandoms have longer sections than others due to some circumstances before all join at some point in this story.
> 
> ~June 2013~
> 
> Gravity Falls: A year after the Weirdmageddon. The twins are thirteen, this summer they will have fourteen. Oregon & California.
> 
> Over The Garden Wall: Eight months after the trip to The Unknown. Wirt will have fifhteen and Greg has nine years. Colorado & Washington.
> 
> Star vs The Forces of Evil: Perhaps two months after the destruction of half of the wand. Star and Marco have fourteen. Tom has sixteen. Florida.
> 
> Paranorman: One year after the Awakening of the Witch. Norman and Neil have twelve years. Massachusetts.
> 
> Coraline: A year after beating the Other Mother. Coraline is twelve years old. Oregon.
> 
> Update: Monday - 30 - May -2016
> 
> You can always contact me on Tumblr: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also some of my future stories: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/My-Fanfics)

_Let's start the continuation of our dream_

_That was once interrupted_

_Just draw a door in the sky_

_Connecting the stars_

_A new stage_

_Is the place we'll challenge the Gods_

_~ Chōzetsu☆Dainamikku! by Kazuya Yoshii[~](http://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/kazuya-yoshii/chouzetsu-dynamic/#page=English)  
_

▲

The summer had begun and that the Pines twins began a new journey to Gravity Falls. Their parents had been amazed at the change of attitude of their children. They had matured in several respects.

Dipper and Mabel were happy to continue to have on each other. The first year of high school wasn’t as bad as Wendy had told them, or rather, they hadn’t yet experienced the worst. But after surviving the Weirdmageddon, a few capricious and arrogant teenagers was a cinch.

Dipper and Mabel still had nightmares. They refused to tell it to their parents; First, they doubted that their parents believe them, and probably - That was as closely as possible, could forbidding them return to Gravity Falls, that would be the worst decision. That's why the twins decided to face their problems alone, with some help from Ford's and Stan's letters about their adventures at sea. They received monthly several postcards from around the world and some gifts. Mabel received candies more than anything, by the way, most of the candies weren't legal in the United States, Dipper teased her because if she ate only that she never would deliver of her brakes.

The Stan's had even found Olivier Levasseur's real treasure. Dipper must ask Ford as he managed to decipher the code. In other letters he explained how Stan had tripled the treasure making bets in taverns, of course they had to flee and set sail before any of these thugs caught them as they quickly realized they had been swindled.

And now here they were, on the bus bound for the rustic village of Oregon, _Gravity Falls_. They were the only passengers awake in the vehicle. Six people were with them but with a very different destination to theirs. They would reach the rustic town in minutes.

“And she's Monique,” Mabel pointed out in her scrapbook to a chestnut girl. The female twin was more entertaining telling Dale, the bus driver, the school year and all the friends she had made in her high school in California. “Here I am with the cheerleading squad before the football match,” Mabel turned the page, “And here I am with the cheerleading squad after the football match and after four glasses of Mabel Juice, you want some?”

Dipper wanted to laugh at the tempting view of seeing Dale drink the shiny liquid but then he remembered that the adult was the driver in charge of their lives.

“Ehm, Mabel… Can you come for a moment?”

“Of course Dipping Sauce. Dale, I leave a bit of Juice, enjoy it~”

Dipper facepalmed when Mabel poured some drink in Dale's thermo. He hadn’t prepared his will, he still didn’t have his Ghostbusters Show! _He hadn’t done all those amazing things he wanted to do!_

Mabel ran to sit beside Dipper, leaving Waddles who looked curiously at the bus driver.

“What's broski?”

“What I tell you about offer your Mabel Juice to other people?”

“Oh don’t be pessimistic DipDop. Look, Dale looks completely normal.”

Dipper watched Dale unscrewed the top of his thermal glass and drank the contents. The younger twin expected to see the adult coughing and immediately passing out on the floor, as with the cheerleading squad amid competition. But instead Dale looked like before, not shiny eyes, no body trembling, not colored saliva, he looked strangely well. Only Mabel could drink that strange mixture of brightness, caffeine and nightmares.

Was Dale a superhuman or something?

“Trust me Dipper, everything is under control.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and turned his eyes to the blue book with the symbol of his birthmark ( _Mabel's idea_ ) that he had in his lap. The book had become the new Journal after the previous three were burned and majority of copies were destroyed to build the Shacktron. Dipper had some sections already completed, theories, conspiracies, codes, etc. The first page of the Journal was the letter of Gravity Falls, that motivated the twins to overcome every day. Although it was mostly _his_ Journal, Mabel also helped him in the designs and drawings. So it was the work of both.

Their mother found it once and she showed it to their father. The twins gasped, thinking about the interrogation that they would have to get home. But their parents thought it was some imaginary story.

“It's a great story, you should publish someday.” It was what Rachel, their mother, said after give them the Journal.

The twins couldn’t wait to get to the town to see them all, go visit the forest, have new adventures. It is best that they return to the Shack, where magic existed although it was false but was harmless. In addition they wanted to see what Soos renovated in the Shack.

“Living with Soos will be fun.” Mabel said. The female twin rummaged through her backpack Melody's and Soos' wedding invitation, which will be held one week before summer vacation ended, then the newly married couple would go away to their honeymoon and _The Mystery Shack_ would be closed until winter. “This time we’ll make the best party, no zombies, no floating puppets, no stupid demons and theirs stupids Apocalypse. Waddles and Gompers could be the godparents, Look at them, their love breaks the boundaries of distance.”

_And nature_ , Dipper thought but he kept it to himself, he wouldn’t break Mabel's heart, that had already commissioned several boys the last summer. Besides his twin didn’t think so much on dates, romantic cliches, etc. Now she was engaged to create couples in their high school, as the official matchmaker. Dangerously he was on ‘ _Mabel's List of Singles_ ’.

Stan and Ford would return to the sea once the summer ended. There were still mysteries to solve around the world. Dipper will be fascinated to go with them but he couldn't leave Mabel alone at home, plus their parents would not allow it. _Believe me -_ The twins had asked their parents if they could spend the winter holidays with Stans in Europe but the adults refused.

“ _Gravity Falls._ ” Dale's voice was heard by the twins. Dipper and Mabel took their suitcases, backpacks and little pig and got off the bus.

“See you in three months Dale.” Mabel said goodbye.

“Yes until then.” Dale said goodbye with a monotone voice.

The door closed behind them and the bus arriving away to another town.

As the first day in Gravity Falls, there was no one waiting for them.

"We walk?”

“We walk.”

Along the way the twins met the gnomes. No, they did not attempt to kidnap her and to make her their Queen, but still seemed to have that why Jeff threw pick-up lines to Mabel. Instead they were carrying several cakes Dipper suspected belonged to Lazy Susan.

The Shack was as they had left it in ruins but prettier.

“Dipper! Mabel!”

The twins looked back and saw Melody with a couple of bags in hands.

“Melody!”

“Melody?! What happened?! Are you okay?!”

Soos out of the Shack to check that his fiancée was in perfect and healthy state.

“Soos!” The twins shouted and ran to embrace the huge, plump man.

“Dudes!”

“Abuelita.” Abuelita appeared behind the gigantic man.

“It's good to have you back.” Soos hugged the twins and they felt like they were lifted from the ground. “Come in, come in, it's your home.”

Inside the Shack this never before seen more beautiful. There were little shiny glass decorations in the windows. Dipper recognized some figures as the symbols of the wheel. There were new attractions like Stan's statue.

“Soos you captured the essence.” Mabel admired her Grunkle's stone statue.

“Many children scream with excitement when they see it.” Soos wiped a small tear of pride.

Dipper arched an eyebrow and looked at Melody, she shrugged and smiled slightly. Oh well, who was he to judge modern art?

“How has life been this year?” Dipper asked when everyone had gathered for lunch.

“Better. The townsfolk and forest creatures seem to get along better than ever.”

“When Soos told me about how he had saved the people from the catastrophic event, I couldn't believe him.” Melody spoke.

“Nobody would believe it.”

The kitchen door had opened and a red mane entered.

“I forgot my jacket and that can only mean one thing.”

“Wendy!”

The redhead held out her arms and the twins ran to hug her. “Look at yourselves, you are higher this time.”

“Although I remain a millimeter higher than Dipper.”

“We'll see before eighteen.”

Dipper felt his head a little lighter then extra weight was placed on. It was his old cap. Dipper had finally been able to overcome his crush in Wendy, the woodcutter girl now was like his older sister. He was sure that if Wendy met someone else, he would support her at all times like the redhead.

After a brief summary of the events that had occurred in Gravity Falls, the Gleeful family would vacation to Europe, McGucket's new inventions, Pacifica becoming independent from her parents and befriend with Grenda, preparations for the wedding, Soos' and Melody's family come next weekend, etc; And the twins school year in California, Mabel's work, the Twins' new Journal, Dipper's disastrous date, etc, the day passed quickly. Stan and Ford wouldn’t be here until Sunday. Today was Saturday so there was a day to prepare a feast to the real heroes of the town. Mabel already had something planned.

Dipper watched the forest. Majestic, mysterious, too green.

“Can I pop out? I would like to visit some friends.”

“Of course dude.”

“Not take too long, abuelita prepare pizza.”

Dipper nodded and left the Shack, walking into the forest.

The forest seemed to be the same. Colonies of the creatures were where the last time the twins helped them relocate. Dipper noticed something odd when he took a step toward the deep woods. There was no sound. There was no singing bird. There were no crickets chirping. Squirrels avoided all contact with the trees in the area. _What happened?_

Yes, he was risking but had to find out what had happened. _What caused this anomaly?_

His eyes widened when he saw that statue.

_Bill Cipher._

Dipper hid behind a tree and looking at the statue, just in case this move, but no, this was motionless, half-buried underground.

Dipper inched to the statue.

“You give not so much fear now.” Dipper scoffed and sat in front of the statue. “A year, huh? After all the things you made us happen to us and you're still here. If that's you.” Dipper touched the eye, sliding his finger on the slit of the pupil, “The all-seeing eye. If as no. I bet you didn’t see this coming, _did you_?”

There was a night when he woke up having a panic attack. Stan had recovered his memories too fast, was that he concluded that Bill could return. He said his theory with Ford, the old man said Stan was the same, he had some mental lapses but he couldn’t remember if the triangle was in his dreams or mind.

And now Dipper had Bill Cipher before him.

“It’s not surprising because no one comes close to this place,” Dipper gave a look around, it was just him and Bill. “They're afraid of you. Humans, creatures, animals - I can bet that even your friends.”

Dipper rose from the forest floor. He was taller than the statue. Although as it was semi-buried he couldn’t be so sure. Perhaps both were the same size.

Something caught his attention.

The way in which Bill's hand was outstretched, as if waiting for some naive come and shake it. For a moment he recalled _The Bipper Incident_. Three days in the hospital and two in bed trying to eat with Mabel's help. Dipper facepalmed. He was going to be that naive, _wasn't he?_ Although in his defense, this was just pure curiosity, and who knows, he could record this in his Journal.

His hand took Bill's. Bill's cold stone hand. He waited for something to happen, but nothing. He expected something... Just _something._ Well, that was proof enough to know that Bill Cipher wasn’t going back. _Never ever._

Dipper turned away to walk away from the statue and back to The Shack. His surprise grew when his hand got stuck in the small stone hand... No. Not stuck. Was trapped. A firm and strong grip.

Dipper's eyes opened and he was almost ready to scream when he heard the small cracks caused by the stone around his hand. Dipper heard in the distance as various animals shrieking hysterically.

As if it were a shell he heard the stone break and as the blue light pierced through the cracks.

The earth began to move aggressively.

“Oh shit.”

♚

Vacation or not, today was Saturday, which is supposed to be a day only for _him_.

His stepfather and mother would go to work and return before five in the afternoon, while Greg would be in the living room watching cartoons or playing with Jason or maybe more in the afternoon his little brother would go to the backyard and would be long hours in the swing set that Nathan, his stepfather, placed in the strongest tree in the garden.

Saturdays were his favorite day. _Nothing_ could go wrong on a Saturday.

Wirt checked his mobile, was about noon. He had slept more than he should. Though no one could blame him. Nobody could understand and he didn’t want to tell anyone but Greg. He was envious of his younger brother for not knowing what The Unknown was. What could have happened to both if he had accepted The Beast’s deal.

Wirt shook his head, he didn’t need to think about that world. Now they were all good, Wirt and Greg were safe and back home, surely everyone in The Unknown were fine. Yes it was better if he was optimistic.

_It was much better to try to be optimistic._

Wirt left his room, in the living room he could hear the cartoons that Greg was watching and his giggles.

He went into the bathroom and put his pajamas in the laundry basket, which later he should go to leave to the laundry room. The warm water fell on him and felt his body relax at the delicious feeling. Taking a little shampoo and soap he began washing his body until he was completely clean and fresh for a hot summer day. Wirt removed the soap from his body and took a towel, wrapping it around his waist. The teenager looked in the mirror, he was changing, he would soon have fifteen and then sixteen and soon he would have to choose a college.

Nathan sat with him, looking for some good universities, reading the pamphlets delivered to students and their parents. The man was very kind and patient, as Greg, nothing to do with his biological father. Here arose one of his many problems, he didn’t know what profession to choose. Most of his friends had at least some eligible or university to go to. Sara had told him that he would know eventually.

_Sara._ Wirt felt silly when he remembered the day they both heard the cassette with poetry and clarinet. She had fascinated it! But apparently she didn’t understand the feelings that Wirt expressed. Wirt decided it was better to remain friends, he eventually would overcome this crush, right? After all, he had already grown accustomed to disappointments.

Wirt left the bathroom to go to his room and pick a comfortable clothes for writing poetry and playing the clarinet.

Sometimes being around Greg reassured him. There were nights where the little one went to his room and spoke to him. He told him that he was returning to The Unknown and saw Beatrice, Lorna, the Woodsman, Mrs. Langtree and even Enoch and he had tea parties with Uncle Endicott. Wirt also saw them or dreamed in this case, but they all disappeared and all he had was dark, cold and two eyes glowing colors. Of course that wasn’t going to tell a child of nine years.

His clothes today was a blue sweater with black pants, the watch on his left wrist and black shoes.

Wirt came down to breakfast, his mother made breakfast on Saturdays, which were the days which her work schedule not started at 7:30 a.m. His stepfather is who makes breakfast on school days. His work was a little lighter, he worked in journalism while his mother was an architect. He took the container from the oven and poured the coffee in his cup. He liked the coffee with a spoon of sugar, sometimes liked lemon tea his mother made when one of her children catch a cold.

Wirt picked up the newspaper Nathan read in the morning and left for him. As yesterday, completely normal in the world, but of course, what was waiting to happen? Wirt finished his breakfast, leaving the dishes in the sink he began to wash one by one and then accommodate them on the ledge of the kitchen.

Finished his work he looked at the clock on the wall, half past twelve.

Wirt went back to his room before checking that the child continue in the living room with his frog. Greg was watching ' _Duck-Tective_ '. That cartoon was eternal, just waiting to give it a decent end and no other anticipated plot twist as it was usual.

The boy went to his room where he would clean and ordain all his stuff. Beginning with his bed that had small traces of chocolate chip cookie that Greg had eaten last night on their last day of school. The room was clean and tidy, waiting for the child to enter and cause a new storm.

One and a half in the afternoon and his new poem hadn’t been written yet.

Wirt rubbed his neck and sat in his chair at the desk, with a pencil and eraser in case of errors. What could be a good theme? Perhaps the summer - Although he preferred autumn and his melancholy farewell to enter the inevitable winter.

“ _Wirt._ ”

And there was the next storm.

“What happens Greg?” Wirt asked without looking up from the blank page.

“Let's hunt more frogs!”

“No. I thought you were watching television.”

“I was but then began to buzz and the gray snow saw in tv channels.”

“It’s the static. Maybe it was just a technical failure of the television station.”

“But there is no cartoons and Mom hid the chocolate. Come on Wirt we could make Jason has a band again, maybe he get a girlfriend... _You may get a girlfriend._ ” Greg said it in a whisper, that is more a sign when he knows that he was making fun of his brother.

Wirt rolled his eyes and desire, desire not only have watched Greg's face. Agh, as he hated him to do that.

Greg smiled triumphantly when he saw Wirt leave the pen on the desk and get out of his chair. “We'll go but you stay close to me and not a word of this to Mom or Nathan.”

“Woho!” Greg raised his hands and moved excited Jason in the air.

His little brother ran out of his room, down the stairs excited. Wirt sighed and decided to put his good mood. After all, _what_ could happen if he finally fulfilled his promise to Greg to hunt frogs?

Wirt and Greg walked toward the park, where a beautiful pond must be surrounded by all those cheesy couples.

“Jason will guide our way.” Greg released the frog which began jumping without delay but not toward the park pond.

They arrived at the cemetery gate.

‘ _ **The Eternal Garden’**_

Since his trip to the strange world Wirt hadn’t returned, he had investigated what was The Unknown and his conclusion was so shocking that he couldn’t tell it to Greg. He prefers to keep his half brother away from the darkness of the place. He always had a white lie when Greg asked if they would return someday to see Beatrice and The Woodsman. It was a white lie. _Nobody_ was going to get hurt.

They walked, Greg following Jason and the frog approaching the cemetery wall. Wirt saw the tombs where his friends had gathered to tell stories of terror months earlier.

“Don’t go too far.” Wirt warned Greg as he walked towards the place, "And _I'm_ serious."

What he was looking for? Well, very soon he know.

Pausing to read some grave, looking at least a name that was familiar to him.

_Quincy Endicott._

_1874 - 1925_

_We hope to meet again in the Hereafter._

Wirt reviewed the tombstone. Broken, abandoned, images of peacocks, but not a single bouquet of flowers, at least he must have a living descendant, right? Someone who could have left his entire fortune in life. Wirt walked to one of the gravestones and took a flower. “I will return it later.” He returned to the grave and removed the dust to deposit the flower.

He looked around the cemetery, was extensive, it was very likely that others were here. Wirt bit his inner cheek to ask where their graves were. _A disturbing thought_.

A buzzing in his left pants pocket woke him from the depth of his thoughts. Wirt pulled out his cell phone. Damn! It was his mother. Before answering Wirt checked around, Greg was trying to catch Jason. Well, at least his brother was nearby in case his mother wanted to talk with him.

Wirt slid the button with a green phone.

“Hello mom… Sorry I can’t hear you clearly... At home watching - TV?” Damn, that sounded so doubtful. “Yes, there are some channels, why?... Well looks a bit static…”

While his older brother was in his cell phone, Greg tried to catch Jason, his stomach was shining and produced the sound of bell every time the frog jump.

Jason saw a small hole in the garden wall and jumped into the place entering through the opening and disappearing on the other side. “Oh bananas!” Greg grimaced. He saw the wall height, this year he had grown a few centimeters, now would be much easier to scale as the great mountaineers.

“So do you came a little later?... What about Nathan?”

In his stepfather’s work the computers stopped working and the elevators broke down. Besides the subway system had stopped to avoid accidents on the roads and therefore his mother was trapped in car traffic when she and a team of colleagues were on their way to a construction.

“Yes, I'll take care to Greg… Do you want to talk to him? Yeah, he is-” Wirt lost all the words when he saw Greg sitting on the wall about to jump across. “I have to hang up uh... Greg brought home an old cat.” Wirt hung up his cell phone before hearing the last words of his mother on the other side of the line. “Greg, get down from there right now!”

“But Jason is on the other side, he must have found another frog!”

Wirt sighed and climbing with the help of the tree trunk and some stones of the wall he came to his brother's side.

“We must get down now.”

“Ribit.”

“Jason!”

“No Greg wait!” Wirt shouted but it was too late Greg had jumped and was now on the other side. “No again.” Wirt jumped too.

“What did you find Skipper?”

“Greg come on, Jason was perhaps chasing flies or mosquitoes.”

“Maybe a circus flies!”

“It does not seem credible.”

“But Mom and Dad go to the flea market.”

“Yes, but are not the fleas you think.”

Must admit, a flea selling household items was rare and somewhat creepy if the fleas were human-size.

The train tracks were still in place, and almost nobody used the train was still running. Further down the hill was the pond where they almost died drowned and beyond was a forest. As he remembers, this was private property, but who belonged?

“Well we have your frog.”

“Our frog.” Greg corrected.

“ _Our_ _._ ”

“Ribit.”

“You're right greeny buddy.”

“Now go up.” Wirt charged Greg and helped him climb halfway up the wall.

A slight movement shook the wall and he almost slips.

“Wirt what was that?”

“Did you feel it?”

Another movement began to shake the wall and then another until the land is not stopped shaking.

_It was an earthquake!_

Wirt took Greg and Jason, who began to croak incessantly, jumping across the wall and falling on a tombstone, protecting his brother.

The earthquake followed by what were the longest and terrifying seconds of his life.

A crack was heard near them, Wirt feared that the wall would fall so he hugged Greg and Jason. The frog was croaking and Wirt heard several dogs barking desperately.

When the ground stopped shaking and his legs stopped trembling, Wirt stood near the tree to recharge. “Oh. My. Gosh!” Wirt was surprised that he could speak.

He glanced at his pants pocket, waiting at any time a call from his mother or Nathan. Some part of him hoped that even his father, but would it be possible? Colorado was so far from Washington. How big have been the earthquake?

“Wirt look!” Greg shouted amazed, Wirt moved away from the tree to see what Greg’s index finger pointing.

The cemetery wall had a crack. A large and long crack that could open up more at any time and if this is not fixed could drop creating a big hole in the wall.

“We have to go Greg. The police can come at any time and I don’t want to give strange statements about why we were here.”

Wirt took Greg's small hand and they began walking to go home.

Something black caught Greg's attention.

Wirt felt his brother's hand loose from his grip and run to a corner of the cemetery. “Greg, what are you doing?” Wirt asked and ran beside the child.

Down a tree was lying a long black cloth made of what looked like feathers and fur. Greg approached the curious piece and began to touch it. _There was something inside._

Wirt kneeled to be at the height of his brother and best observe that dirty piece of cloth.

His left pocket buzzing again and Wirt saw the number on the screen. “Oh great, it's mom.” Wirt told Greg but the child was so intrigued by the piece of clothing. Wirt clicked on the green button, he was about to speak when he saw Greg remove the cloth and reveal a head with two horns.

“Oh fuck.”

✯

“It's time to go to the beach!”

Star jumped nonstop as she tucked her bags in the car of the Diaz family.

“I'm so glad you could join us Star.” Mariana Diaz commented with her natural emotion.

“I am happier to know a human beach, in Mewni we have a different kind of beaches.”

The beaches in Mewni always consisted enjoy the warm summer without ending with bruises, devoured by the three-headed water snakes or poisoned if your body came to touch some species of algae.

“Yeah, well, here you will not have to fight with snakes, monsters or anything like that. Of course, you should avoid the sun burn you, is the goal to have fun on the beach.” Marco said.

“Wait, does Helios also coming with us?” Star grimaced in disgust.

“No. Not that sun.”

“Ah, what a relief.”

Star entered the house to go for more suitcases. She was so happy that her mother would allow her to live with the Diaz Family for a while longer. Marco was a bit envious of her, the princess of another dimension was stronger than him, even though he practiced karate since kindergarten. Perhaps she was stronger due to a change of gravity as happened with Goku. Only that explanation he could think of.

“Very good _'Mijo_ , do you have everything ready to go to your aunt?” His father's aunt lived in Miami and every summer she invited her nephew to spend summer vacation in a luxurious mansion.

“Yup, do you think they ask questions about Star?”

His aunt was not bad, just very quick to judge people and make very painful comments, the rest of his family was neutral in the decisions of other family members. He only worried about Star because her crazy attitude.

“Don’t worry Marco, your aunt would loved her, she has that effect on people.”

One of the lasers puppy jumped into Rodrigo's lap. The seven dogs stay at Ferguson's home until the end of summer. Jackie and Alfonzo could have been a good choice, but Jackie work on her next competition for skateboarding and Alfonzo’s parents had found him a work in the ice cream shop. Star had considered Janna but she was allergic to dogs.

Marco left the car and went to the kitchen. His mother wrapped in foil some dishes that the whole family would eat when they get Aunt Itati’s home, most secure at midnight.

Star tried to eat the chocolate cake but Ms. Diaz hit her hand gently, the princess made a slight tantrum and Mariana laughed softly.

Marco knew his mother would have liked to have more children, so she consented to Star and all the guys who came from exchange.

His gaze was set on the Star’s wand. Half of the golden star shone slightly. When Marco asked why the mini horse hadn’t restored the complete star, Star responded with a “ _I don’t know. Perhaps it will take time._ ” Marco knew his friend was confused. Sometimes when Star believed to be alone he had been watching her, glanced at her wand with a serious look but as soon as she saw him she quickly back to her jovial attitude.

A couple of nights after the incident at Ludo’s - Toffee's Castle, he researched in the history book of Mewni something about the wand. Only said that The First Queen had received the wand of a powerful and old character as the universe itself. And as every history book of any culture in the world - and perhaps other worlds - here was missing information. _Why did they do all that? What do they want to hide from people?_

“My family!” Mr. Diaz entered the house, “Everything is ready, it's time to get in the car and sing in unison!”

In other words sing until Marco stay hoarse.

“Okay, I have a new album Janna gave me.”

Star showed the cover of the album, ' _Sev'ral Timez_ ', that band of cute and fakes guys who disappeared last year. Marco didn’t understand how one of the most famous bands of the United States disappeared in a few days. Although the last thing he knew was that the representative of the band had been taken to prison. “ _It is a mysterious mysteriously mystery._ ” Star said moving her hands.

Marco went to make sure that the windows of his room, Star’s and his parents’ were locked. His room would be filled with dust during these three months and he wouldn’t be in the mood to clean all in one night and less the night before returning to high school. Marco left the last room.

He walked down the stairs when suddenly one of the pictures of him with his friends from school exchange fell to the ground followed by more pictures.

An earthquake was beginning.

“Marco!”

He heard his mother's voice screaming from the kitchen.

Marco ran - Forgetting the main rule in case of earthquakes, to the kitchen where his family was under the table.

“Marco!” His father took his hand and placed him under the table.

A flash of gold began to be born in Star’s dress.

“Star, your wand!”

The alien girl looked at her wand. Half of the star was shining like a sun. The wand shaking aggressively in her pocket, as if trying to escape.

Mr. Diaz with his strong arms protected his family. Marco saw small concrete rubble falling from the roof, what magnitude is this earthquake? Lasers puppy ran and barked with dread, squirrels live in trees up and down quickly, Marco even heard some birds crashing against the windows of the house.

When everything began to calm his father was the first to leave, helping his wife and then his two children.

“That was scary.” Mariana still clung to her husband.

“I know honey, I hadn’t felt anything like that since '85.”

Marco turned back to look at Star. The blond girl looked her wand with a confused look, this time she didn’t try to hide it. _She was worried._

_Knock. Knock._

“Who could it be?”

“Perhaps the neighbors.” His mother said.

Marco worried about his friends, he hoped that all they and their families will find well. He just wanted that were not bad news.

Mariana walked to the door, followed by Marco.

The wooden door opened and two people in front of them were. One of them was a fat man with shorts and a T-shirt, his short hair was tied in a ponytail. Marco recognized him as the guy who had accompanied Star’s ex-boyfriend.

No. Wait… If Brian was here then the other person was-

“Is here Star Butterfly?”

Tom The Demon.

“Holy crap.”

⚜

Norman placed the white and violet flowers on Agatha’s tree. He didn’t like to call it _grave_ , he felt it wasn't the word that Agatha would like to hear. This small clearing in the forest was her resting place.

"Sorry for not having come to tell you more stories, but... It's school, however it's summer and that means I'll have more time to come and talk to you. Neil would like to know if his dog is with you and if he is good company."

It had become a habit for him to come every weekend to visit Agatha, the girl who almost got him killed a year ago, but that's in the past, after all he had managed to do she could rest in peace. Most of the time his grandma came with him. She still held the promise to care him even beyond death.

"See you Agatha."

Norman stood up and shook the dust from his jeans.

Saturday, the first day of vacation now he could have much more free time to create his stop-motion films. That was his dream for the future, become the best director with stop-motion movies. Of course he had to prove to his parents that this was a decent job like any other. His mother supported him but she believed it was something temporary, a hobby, although she didn’t say his father said aloud. And very often.

Walking home he greeted the same ghosts in their own sites, of course there were still people who considered him strange by talking to the air, more yet they had grown accustomed to that strange things were happening in the small town of Masachusetts, as ghosts, zombies and witches.

Norman sometimes would like to have a friend with whom to discuss these issues. Neil was great listening to their stories but the chubby kid couldn’t hear it directly from the ghost.

“I'm back.” Norman told his family of his arrival in the forest.

“Oh Norman, how did it go?” His mother asked, she cooked dinner tonight because Courtney returned after her semester at the University. His older sister had decided to study fashion design.

“Well... Fine.” He answered.

“Neil was with you?” She asked again, leaving the spaghetti on the table.

“No, he and his family go to visit his brother in Wisconsin.”

This summer he would spend alone, well, at least he could work in his films and in late summer his whole family can see it.

In the other room was heard glass break and then the annoyed grunt of a man.

His mother shook her head, “I will go to see your father, do you think you can get the chicken from the oven? It will be ready in five minutes.”

Norman nodded, his mother smiled, leaving the kitchen to go to help her husband.

Norman sat, watching the clock hands moved slowly. Wasn't there a way to affect the time? He let out a long breath, he saw his grandmother float away from the room and leave the house not before saying goodbye with a smile. His grandmother had met another group of ghosts who liked to play poker and watch soap operas, yet she always came back before dinner and wished him good night.

Norman returned to see the clock, it had only been three minutes.

In his head he began a countdown to complete the remaining two minutes.

_120…_

Had he already finished creating the protagonist of his new film?

_100…_

He still had no specific ending to the film. He must consider some of the options that were written in his notebook.

_85…_

How girls like romance in horror movies? He must ask Salma.

_62…_

Did Neil be having fun?

_50…_

Another mumble from his father about hitting his finger, and his mother laughing because her husband looked funny.

_34…_

Would it be okay if he would add a pet to the protagonist?

_23…_

Or maybe a sibling?

_15…_

Expected this summer he finally decided to go swimming. That would be a good step to leave behind shyness, right?

_9…_

Stephen King will create another book?

_5…_

What must be the plot for his next film?

_0…_

Perhaps some apocalyptic theme.

The remaining two minutes had passed and Norman jumped from his seat to set foot on the kitchen floor. Taking gloves kitchen of his mother, he opened the oven and took the side of the tray.

First he thought it was a tingling but when the vessels of the shelf fell one by one then he knew it was serious all this.

_Earthquake!_

Shutting the stove, even with chicken inside and hoping to prevent a gas leak, Norman did the first thing they had been taught in case of earthquakes, he was placed under the table, waiting for the tremor happened fast.

“Norman!” He heard his father's voice.

“I'm under the table!”

The table began dancing and moving slowly instead. Norman saw some birds pecking at the window, as if they wanted to in, outside his house terrified screams were heard from the crowd.

The sudden movement gradually began to descend until all again felt calm. Norman hope no second jolt came next. Norman went under the table and walked entering the living room where his parents were. The decorations had fallen to the ground. He was grateful that most decorations were balloons, confetti and streamers.

“That was awful.” His father said, his hand was clutching his chest up to his heart.

“Norman! Are you okay?” His mother check that he did not have a scratch or cut. To find that her son was fine she held him in a tight embrace.

“Mom enough, I'm fine.”

His mother released him and he started breathing again.

“I'll turn the television.” The television was turned else only static and poor channel image looked. “I'll go see the neighbors. May our antenna has been dropped.” His father left the house.

“Norman, did you get the chicken from the oven?”

“I was going to do but it was when the quake began.”

“Okay son, I'll take care, you'd better look the broom.”

His mother came into the kitchen and he went upstairs to the small closet of utensils, but before he made a quick stop in the room that his parents decided to to give his little stop-motion study.

Norman huffed and snorted when he saw all the figures of clay scattered on the floor of the room. “Now I have to start all over again.”

Perhaps he had only taken fifteen minutes of filming but he took three days, it was hard work but it was his passion. Norman began to raise the figures of clay from the floor -Later he could put them in place, he just hoped his mother wouldn’t need so urgently the broom.

When he saw that the room was in good order or as clean as possible, he walked out of the room.

_Tump._

Before leaving he heard like something had fallen from his ledge to the ground. Norman turned around and found that it had been a box. Ok, he hoped there was not a second quake, he couldn’t withstand another earthquake. The box was again placed in place and Norman was willing to leave the room if not because he saw something in the corner of his room. Something small, but was bent.

Norman took a few cautious steps toward the silhouette in the corner.

_What was that?_

His leg collided with one of the table legs and the shadow noticed his presence. _At least now I know it is aware_ , Norman thought.

The shadow stood but Norman could see that it was floating. That figure turned and all the color in Norman disappeared.

He was seeing a face that he never thought to see again. At least alive.

“Norman?” The ghost spoke with a soft, confused and frightened voice.

“Agatha?”

_What the heck?_

❅

The Pink Palace Apartments was quiet, as it has always been.

Clearly that for Coraline it was boring, so normal in this little corner of Oregon exceedingly bored her, she hoped something interesting but not mortally happen very soon.

Coraline sat on the porch of her apartment, stroking the spoiled Cat. He would be her only company in the first two weeks of summer, since Wybie was punished for having created a clandestine show, according to his grandmother, where he had announced at school that he would jump the big hill with only his motorcycle. Coraline rolled her eyes but she wasn’t going to do anything to stop him. Wybie never listened.

Tickets had cost twelve dollars per head.

Of course Wybie didn’t have time to demonstrate the dangerous somersault when his grandmother showed in the place. The woman did have lungs because even when all present were coming down the hill back to town all they could still hear the scolding of the old lady about how irresponsible her grandson was.

Of course she was not spared from punishment for not stopping Wybie of such madness. Her parents had forbidden her cell phone, the Internet, television and no fun food.

While Wybie be two weeks inside his room - with every possible amenity - she will be out dying of boredom.

The Cat purred against her leg when she stopped stroking his back.

“You're a spoiled cat.” She said mockingly but still stroked behind the ears.

If she did nothing else in ten minutes she would explode. Perhaps enter the house and turn on the television, her parents weren’t and she would have enough time. Although the possibility exists, that is the safest, her mother has placed the channel lock, then there would be been for nothing her machiavellian plan.

Perhaps it would be best to go explore the place again, who knows, perhaps and something had changed since they had buried The Other World’s key, along with The Other Mother’s hand

“Are you coming with me?” Coraline asked The Cat, The Cat gave her a look and went to sleep on the porch. “ _Spoiled~_ ” She crooned and started walking towards the hills around her home. The Cat followed her with his eyes, Perhaps he should go with her... _No, she would be fine._

Everything was like the last time that night almost a year ago. The well was in the same place, the same flowers, the same stones. Now she understand why this place wasn’t well known for being spontaneous. For goodness, she was in Oregon! Is not that where the witches had sought refuge?

Perhaps she would find more entertainment in her beloved garden.

Before leaving Coraline had a sly idea as the first time she was here, she took a stone and approached the well, in one of the small cracks she dropped the stone, waiting to hear when it hit bottom.

It took ten seconds to hear it fall.

_How strange_ , she thought, _the last time had been more than thirteen seconds_.

She shrugged, downplaying the issue and kept walking until she got home. Coraline picked up the hose and connect it to the water source, maybe she could create some rainbow.

The garden had more plants this time. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible had told her the idea about opening a flower shop in the town. Coraline said she'd think it, now was the time when she hadn’t yet considered their proposal. Perhaps it was best to open a florist, at least that way she could be entertained and make new friends. It was time to tell her parents the good idea.

The heat was too much, even The Cat had moved off the porch and was lying on the banister.

“Who was like you.” Coraline said as she climbed the stairs and entered her home, she would prepare lemonade and maybe, if the grandmother allowed it, she could go visit Wybie or otherwise talk to his grandmother. Sometimes the lady old woman said very interesting things.

The kitchen was clean, her mother hated dirt and disorder so she and her father tried to have the house accommodated as best as possible. Which it was a good thing since she found quicker the things.

Coraline took a couple of lemons and a pitcher with water halfway. Maybe if she showed that she was considered, her parents could reduce her punishment, and with the idea of the florist, can everything goes much better.

With a glass of fresh lemonade she went to the living room, sitting on one of the comfortable sofas. The Cat meowed sitting on the edge of the window.

“Nah, no milk for you.”

The Cat gave her a look, squinting and jumping to run to the hills.

“Don’t you dare bring gifts to my room!”

No she didn’t want to think about what kind of gifts the feline would leave her bed tonight. He did it when she was bad.

“Do you know that would be perfect right now?” She began talking to herself, “What? Chocolate chip cookies. You're right. I have always.”

Coraline got off the couch and walked to the kitchen. Her mother will not care she has taken ten or fifteen cookies. Coraline took a chair and placed it in front of the shelf, in the highest part was the cookie jar.

“Bingo! _Woow_ , what was that?”

First she had achieved the jar, in a few years she could be as tall as her father and then she felt a jolt.

Coraline thought she had made a false move, but then came another jolt and she almost fell off the chair.

Trying to maintain balance, she fell from the chair and walking guided by the walls she came into the room. The quake began to appear more aggressively and she fell on the floor of the room. Glass spheres of the chimney fell, breaking into thousands of piece and liquid and glass scattered all over the place.

The earthquake seemed to calm down, so she tried to stand. It was a bad idea since she ended dizzy but at least the shaking had descended.

A crack resounded all over the place, Coraline thought that maybe it was her father's computer which had fallen, the computer was still in place, of course the desktop had moved a few centimeters from its accustomed place.

This was a very strong earthquake. How big will have been? Coraline hoped her mother called but O _h_ _N_ _o_ _!_ She didn’t have her cell phone - this was a perfect excuse for her mother to return her cell phone - but now no one could forbid her to watch TV, it was only to see a news channel. Maybe one of them was in the air at the time of the quake.

Coraline turned around but what she see quickly erased all over her face.

The small door that connected her world and The Otherworld was broken, had a large tear in the wall that ran through the lock. Coraline at any time waiting for something or someone out there and catch her.

“This is not something you see every day.”

Coraline went numb with a very slowly she turned. She knew that voice was The Other Mother's voice, was-

“Cat?”

_Holy Fuck!_

* * *

 

**VEVIBGSRMT HGZIGVW RM GSV DLLWH**


	2. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there is any error.
> 
> Update: Wednesday - 03 - August - 2016

_Worrying that everything might break_

_I fear tomorrow_

_But I know that I won't find any answers_

_By looking at the day after tomorrow_

_What will I draw on the blank canvas of tomorrow that stretches endlessly?_

_What will I draw on the black canvas of tomorrow that's been dyed by reality?_

_With struggle, it will shine_

_~ Complication by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D[~](http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/38149/rookiez-is-punkd/complication.html)_

▲

The ground stopped moving and Dipper fell to the ground, still with his hand caught between Bill's stone hand. The light, pierced through the cracks, became increasingly stronger as the earthquake ended. Dipper watched the statue being illuminated and finally look like stone pebbles came off. And in a blink of black and white, the statue broke into thousands of pieces falling on Dipper and the forest floor.

_Bill Cipher was freed from his prison._

The triangle was standing on the forest floor, he opened his single eye, feline pupil looked up and met the human's brown eyes. Everything around him was in color. It was not the Mindscape black and white, were not the Dreamscape sepia tones. It was nothing like that. They were sharp colors of the real world.

_Dipper Pines had brought Bill Cipher back to life, the demon that almost ended his world and dimension._

He was in severe trouble with his family.

Bill's pupil moved until his hand that was trapped to the boy's hand, the triangular demon dropped the human hand. Both small hands were placed in front of him, clenching and unclenching into fists.

A machiavellian laugh was all Dipper wouldn't want listen today, more yet he couldn't get up and run to tell his family. _Frightened_ , yes. _Puzzled_ , of course. _Wanting to run away_ , that was debatable.

“‘ _Oh_ _shit_ ’ Is that all you say after bringing me back to your world?” Bill asked. His distorted and bit nasal voice was still the same.

“ _Bill?_ ”

“Of course, and let me thank you for this!” Bill levitated away from the forest floor, Dipper was right, Bill in his triangular shape was the same size, “How about a head that always screams?” Bill clapped his both hands.

Dipper expected the head appeared near him, but nothing. He was surprised and of course, Bill was surprised.

“What the-?” The demon clapped, snapped, and made several attempts but nothing appeared.

It was as if-

“And your powers?”

Bill watched the human boy, giving him a murderous look. No, he was not worried, not at all.

The demon snapped his fingers and his typical blue fire appeared, surrounding the black fingers. The atmosphere around him felt tense, Dipper instantly regretted having asked, fearing that the triangular demon will winnow the fire on him Dipper stepped aside.

“This is not possible.”

There was something strange about him. His fire was the same, his abilities were the same as he was before being destroyed from reality. But his level of power, his magic level, were _not_ the same. Bill closed his eyes. Pyrokinesis, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, levitation, teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, magic. The main abilities were still, though abilities _as_ interdimensional travel had disappeared.

Above all Bill's strange behavior - much stranger - Dipper was torn between what to do. _Running_ the Shack and tell everyone or _wait_ here and find out what happened to Bill.

“Don't even bother to ask Pine Tree.” Dipper had to not be an expert to know that the evil triangle was angry- No, worse than that, he was talking _seriously_. “This is because of your stupids uncles!” Bill shouted angrily, bricks golden triangle turned red with the pupil sparking fury.

“In the first place this is also your fault!” Dipper shouted back, “Had it not have wanted to make your Weirdmageddon none of this ever happened to you or my family!”

Dipper knew he had hit the mark. According to his old conversations with Ford, Dipper had concluded that Bill was kind of young demon, someone who thinks only of destruction, like a university does at their parties. Ford had met the demon before him, and even in the Fearamid Bill even revealed his greatest achievement, _destruction and release of his dimension_. So if he was going to fight Bill, taking advantage of his powers now seem to have gone, he would. He could have a plan that would do.

“What would F-” No bad choice, he would know what Ford would do if his Great Uncle would meet again with the demon, Bill also seemed to know as the triangle narrowed his eyes, “What would my sister do?”

“For what?” Bill asked in a sharp and angry tone.

“Well, I'm not a psychic but I can see at a glance that there is something wrong with you. You hav-”

“Finish that sentence and I can assure you that your worst nightmare is a dream beautiful compared to what I'll do to you.”

Does he must risk it? “Okay, then answer this, can you still travel between dimensions?”

The eye looked away, “No.”

“So how do you return to your dimension?” Against Bill's eye moving back to him, Dipper continued talking, "Because, well, you're just one _against_ a whole town and forest that hates you." And even though the ' _Never Mind All That_ ' law remains in force, Wendy had told them that among the people still kept talking about the event that happened a year ago.

Bill stopped floating, Pine Tree was right, horribly a meatsack of thirteen years was _right_. “It's all the fault of the Pines!”

“And like I said before, you get involved us!” Dipper turned around and began to walk back to the Shack. No, it did not matter if he could _speak_ with Bill, the demon was acting like a spoiled child. If he believed he could deal with him just for his lack of magic, well now he was wrong. Dipper walked to the Shack, trying to put on the table the strange events.

First, Bill had returned.

Second, the diabolical being had no his abilities as before, so it was not a big problem.

Third, he is following him.

_He is following him?!_

“What are you doing?!” Dipper faced the floating triangle.

“What else seems to be? I will haunt you until my powers back.” The small triangle blurted placing his hands on his - Waist?

“No. No. No. No! A thousand times no. Bill, you're not going to come with me to the Shack. I have no idea what I tell Mabel, because I'm pretty sure this stupid earthquake it's your fault! Hell, I don't even know what to tell Stan and Ford! They return tomorrow. My family is going to kill me!”

“Oh come on Pine Tree, you will not be the first human, or living being, to be killed by their own family.” Bill crossed his arms and rolled the eye.

Dipper pricked the bridge of his nose until only saw black, “First, stop calling me Pine Tree, I _hate_ that nickname.” The boy Pines gave him a deadly look, “And secondly, you're _not_ going to come with me.”

Dipper ran but Bill was following him, no matter the obstacles he got in his way. The good news was that upon arrival at the Shack, the barrier of unicorn hair still work and that would keep Bill away. He just had to keep running and Bill can not enter.

His joy and relief grew when he saw the forest boundaries and therefore he saw the Shack. Dipper increased speed in his career and taking a giant leap he arrived until the top step of The Shack. Breathing at a very fast pace, trying to feel his heart to a normal rhythm. Dipper turned around, turning his back on The Shack door and dropping to the floor of the house. He had managed to lose the silly demon.

“ _Hey!_ I'm not a silly demon!”

Dipper's eyes widened and he got up only to discover Bill Cipher sitting beside him. “How did you manage to enter?”

“Save your saliva. You know very well why, the reason why it was not noticed because you were running like crazy.”

Bill with demonic powers meant that both the barrier around the town, and around the house, worked perfectly. Now that Bill doesn't have that strong and powerful demonic aura around him the barrier not categorized him as a threat.

“We're screwed!” Dipper screamed hysterically when he realized his current situation.

“ _Dipper?_ ” A voice sounded behind the door, it was Mabel, “Are you okay? The earthquake was horrible, all Shack merchandise fell to the ground and-” Mabel opened the door to find her brother and a visit that she never wanted to see again in her life.

“Yello' Shooting Star!” Bill shouted, waving his little hand and speaking as if they were old friends. “Are you still with the brakes? Girl you should consider healthier food. Perhaps the flesh and blood of your enemies, do you have any idea of how many soldiers that worked?”

Mabel was speechless. The female twin soon started laughing awkwardly. “Wow, I must have hit my head very hard because I'm seeing a talking triangle next to my Bro-Bro. Now I close my eyes and when I open them I will next to Soos with a packet of chips.” Mabel closed her eyes and opened them to return to see the same scene. She laughed nervously, "Ok, ok, I get it Dipper, good prank." She repeated and repeated the process, “Open and close. Open and close. Open and close.” Over and over again.

“Mabel!” Dipper shouted at the persistence of his twin.

“Ah! No! I knew that sooner or later I would suffer side effects from Mabel Juice! Dipper had warned me again and again! Why did I never listen to you?!”

“Mabel stop!” Dipper got up to go with his sister and support her before she collapsed. “As much as I hate to say this Bill is here!”

“No! This is a dream, I just need someone to pinch me- Ouch!” Mabel screamed as her arm was hurt.

“You're welcome Shooting Star.”

“You stupid floating nacho just wait until Stan and Ford catch you. Dipper where the butterfly hunter is?”

Dipper shook his head, this is just what he wanted to avoid. And things could get much worse when Stan and Ford get home.

“Dudes?”

 _Oh no_.

“Is something wrong?” Soos went outside only to watch Dipper standing on the porch and Mabel run behind a floating triangle. “Hold-”

“Oh it's Question Mark!” Bill floated near the stout man, completely ignoring Mabel, “Ohohoho, but what the change, the new Mr. Mystery. No matter boy, although the monkey in silk is still a monkey. But look how many things!”

Taking advantage Soos had opened the whole door, Bill came in. The twins gasped in horror and ran into the house hoping that in the first seven seconds that Bill take in would not become a disaster zone.

“Soos?” Melody came out of the gift shop, shocked and confused. Now they knew where the triangle was.

Bill was floating over the broken merchandise. Dipper could see that both Stan and Ford would have a heart attack simultaneously.

“I can not believe this has been caused by me. Guys, flatters me their welcome gift.” Bill snapped, “It is time to test how much magnitude I can still control.”

Stretching his hands towards the store merchandise, this rose from the ground and being surrounded by a light blue aura, broken pieces binding again, forming as if they were new and being rearranged on the shelves of the place.

“Yes! It is still strong!”

The triangle pulled away from the gift shop before the eyes of those present. Soos, Mabel and Melody ran behind him while Dipper watched the merchandise repaired. Two new things today. First, Bill still could remain powerful and perhaps dangerous and secondly. Second, Stan wouldn't have a heart attack. He couldn't say the same for Ford.

Dipper left the gift shop and went in pursuit, the next meeting point was the kitchen. Great, the second most dangerous in the whole house, just place where the sharpened things were.

“Oh my! Look at this lady's skin.” Bill was touching _Abuelita's_ cheek. “It's so soft, you remind me of Pyronica's old girlfriend, The Countess knew how to party, hahaha, did you still use the blood of young women?”

“Soos, who is your friend?” The old woman kindly ask not worried that the demon that enslaves them a year ago is the same demon who is touching her cheek.

“It's nothing _abuelita_ ,” Dipper spoke, “He is about to leave.”

“What? And without congratulating the bride?” Bill dropped the wedding invitation that was on the kitchen table.

“Excuse me?” Melody arched an eyebrow.

The triangle floated to the girl, taking her hand in the air. “The Miss Question Mark, wow, a great man you caught in your network. Congratulations Lil' Ham.” Bill's eye was transformed into a mouth and kissed Melody's hand, the girl was a bit confused, disturbed and puzzled.

“Oh, what pleasant news, you come to help with the wedding?”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“You do not stay in this house!” Dipper yelled to the demon.

“Ha! Until I have my powers back I'll stay with you, after all you're right, it is a town and a forest against me, I think this wouldn't be _morally right_ to leave me out.”

Does Bill is manipulating them? Soos, Melody and Abuelita looking thoughtful, but he and Mabel knew perfectly what kind of tricks used Bill. At the time he recovered his powers there will be no safe place.

“I keep saying the same thing, Bill.” Dipper spoke firmly, “ _You're not staying here._ ”

Bill narrowed his eyes and Dipper wanted to shake with fear but he could not, not when he was the only one who knew how tricky was the triangle.

The doorbell rang and everyone tensed. Mabel ran to the door letting in Wendy. Oh crap! She had completely forgotten the presence of the redhead. Moments after Dipper went to the forest Wendy had decided to go to town to buy sodas, snack and junk food and tell her friends the return of the twins.

Wendy brought sodas and some snacks in the mini-mart bags, she looked excited, “Dudes! Did you feel the earthquake? Fuzz! People were upset and even the owner of the place said we could take whatever. Even many people saw the sky for a moment I thought it would be a new-” The redhead stopped talking since when entering the kitchen was a floating triangle arguing with Dipper.

“Red! Nice to see you again, no hard feelings by becoming you a tapestry, right?”

Stock markets fell to the ground and Wendy pinched her arm. “This is not a dream.” The twins tensed to the voice of their friend, had heard so robotics.

“Oh clear that it is not a dream Red. To be you'd be in your tapestry decorating my Fearamid along with the others. While I would be bringing a dimensional madness.” Bill laughed as the maniacal triangle that is he.

“Dipper,” The aforementioned looked at Wendy's eyes, green eyes watching him asking for an explanation to the triangular visit. “How is Bill Cipher alive?”

Before the question everyone present turned to look at him. He had been such a shock to see the ancient demon that he had forgotten the main questions that were ‘ _What is he doing here?_ ’ and ‘ _Why was he with you?_ ’

Dipper called for a miracle to save him.

_Ring._

_Thanks to whoever was._

Soos moved away from the tense atmosphere of the kitchen and walked to the phone.

“Hello… Hey, sorry is not heard very well… Mr. Pines!”

_Forget what I said._

“It is a pleasure to hear his voice... Talk a little louder not heard almost nothing!... What a nice news!... When you like… Until then Mr. Pines.” Soos hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen, “Dudes, was Mr. Stan. Both had arrived in Oregon last night and had stayed in a motel two hours from here but come to see that there is no damage in the house. Is not that good news?”

“Why did you say that they could come now?!” Dipper shouted exalted.

“Because it's their home.”

“Soos!” Mabel shouted worried, “We have a problem in the form of nacho in our kitchen!”

“Nacho? For your information I am isosceles.”

“Shut up!”

Wendy approached them, placing her hands on the twins' tense shoulders, “Calm down guys, we must first clean before Mr. Pines has a heart attack and later-” The redhead looked at Bill, “We'll take the garbage away.”

“Good luck, I'm not leaving here.”

“We'll see that. Mabel and I'll take care of the upstairs rooms, _Abuelita_ , you take charge of the kitchen. Soos, Melody, of the Shack and Dipper you sure that everything is in place in the basement.”

The others nodded and separated.

“What about me? _The special guest tonight!_ ”

“You can go outside and stay in the forest.” _Or leave Gravity Falls_ , Dipper thought, heading for the basement and, once again, being followed by Bill. Now that the demon was almost invisible to the magical barrier of The Shack, it was a very big possibility that he is invisible to the magical barrier around the town.

Bill watched the child press the buttons on the vending machine and seeing as this open, allowing the child access to the basement, he decided to speak, “Sure kid, I go to the forest but let's see what possible opportunities may occur.”

Something strange was in Bill's voice, he spoke with the same stupid security of himself. Dipper narrowed his eyes and turned to look the demon. “What do you mean by that?” He asked forgetting down to the basement.

“Just think about this: A poor and very manipulable tourist walks through the woods, sees me and there are two routes **A)** They flee and their band of fools believe them crazy or **B)** My favorite, runs away and brings dumber tourists and then I can begin my worship, I am a very charming demon, how many people could join in a matter of minutes? Three or four million?” Dipper was about to reply but Bill went on, “We also have _another_ possible scenario, let's say, hypothetically speaking, someone from the town sees me and comes to your house asking for an explanation and you, out of the blue, say something like ‘ _I shook his hand and it's all my fault_ ’, what do they think about some of the heroes brought to life the most dangerous entity back to their world?”

Dipper was dumbfounded "You're blackmailing me?!"

"Don't see it as blackmail." Bill floated around Dipper, the teenager looked cautiously the demon careful that the triangle decided not to enter the basement, but there was no longer a possible portal to other dimensions but still had other hazardous materials. "Sees this as a new deal between you and me. I can say I came back to life with my great powers and you will have a reputation to uphold against the poor people of your stupid hick town."

"This is blackmail." Dipper replied.

"It's a win-win situation." The long, thin black arms of Bill placed on his shoulders, "What do you say? We have a deal?"

Blue fire that he never thought to see again was back in front of his nose, just a few inches of his face. What would happen if he did this deal? He couldn't have his entire family hating him. Whether or not there was an accident bringing to life a demon, no excuses for the stupidity of his irresponsible actions at the time. But Bill was offering himself as a scapegoat.

 _Win-win situation?_ Dipper thought. Bill would conceal about his stupidity while he would conceal Bill's low levels of power. Strange as this sounds, both were helping each other.

"It's a deal. Nobody should know this."

Bill felt human skin take his hand. "My _lips_ are sealed."

Dipper rolled his eyes. _Lips, yes of course_. The brunet teenager began walking toward the basement, being followed by the floating dorito, going first to Ford's old library. Although an earthquake had not happened, the room was in chaos. As the first time he was in this place everything was the same chaos as before. Books about old history, occult sciences and other subjects were covered in dust. The good news was that Ford had finally gotten rid of those tapestries and statuettes. Dipper never asked Ford who had built these statuettes or was the six-fingered Author who created them.

Bill seemed to remember the place of his former deal with Ford, and in a second he was looking for something among the desks. Dipper watched every move of the demon, wanting to know what dangerous object the demon would take from Ford's desk. The triangle pulled a notebook from one of the desk drawers, much older than the Journals.

"Hahahaha. I can't believe Sixer _keep_ this. Pine Tree, this is comedy gold. Feelings make you be more stupid even if you have a high IQ."

Dipper raised an eyebrow, what did he mean by that? What was that notebook that kept entertained Bill? Well, whatever that has written as the demon will not create chaos all would be well.

 _Now, where do start cleaning?_ Dipper wondered what could Soos do with this room if Grunkle Ford decided to get rid of all these things. Perhaps Dipper decided to stay with some books that can serve him, Ford had too many copies of the same books. Also in his first months back in Piedmont he tried to make some spells, clear that the first results were not expected but nobody is born knowing how to control magic.

Dipper glanced at Bill, the demon would be interested in teaching him magic? But what the hell was he thinking?! It was obvious that no, and besides he was already taking too many risks to make this deal with Bill to be thinking in a second - Third deal.

The boy returned to observe the demon. Apparently he had not been paying attention during these moments of thoughts. He was very entertaining with whatever was in that notebook.

Dipper began to clean, old books stacked one upon another and forming new columns of papers. Thank God he was not allergic to dust or sneeze with his unique sound and he did not want Bill to hear him. Nope. He already had too many problems with this nacho.

"What is your obsession with nachos?"

"You listened to my thoughts?" Dipper asked indignantly. Pretending to be indignation.

"Child 'm hearing every thought in this house and yours are the loudest."

Dipper's cheeks heated as two red-hot metal. "You have no right to read my mind!"

"You better let down your voice Pine Tree."

Dipper snorted and return to clean, just a few more minutes and he could go see the basement, hopefully, and that was not as undone as the library.

"By the way-" Bill spoke again have Dipper's attention on him. "If you really want to learn magic, learn to stop sneezing like a kitten."

_I will kill him._

"Try it." Bill teased and Dipper swore in his mind.

Despite being underground for what were the forty-five minutes oppressive of his life with a demon who tried to kill him, were not so bad. Bill kept busy reading that notebook and watching a few other things, not dangerous, both in the basement and in the library, it could be said that this counts as a good goal in his life. He was still alive, to burst of fury because the demon, _but alive._

"Hey Dipper." Wendy went to the gift shop, "I see you've done." It was then that Bill came behind him, now without the notebook, deciding that comedy deserved a better place, "And with the garbage."

"Red, will we continue to this way until the end of the world? Get over it, Pine Tree seems get over it."

"Don't call me Pine Tree." Dipper hissed.

"What is the plan for him to leave the house?"

Oh. _Oh no_. He had not thought about any plan to explain to why Bill _had_ to stay with his family, with him, without revealing that it was he who had brought him to life and that Bill did not have enough magic to create chaos in the world. Both detested think the same. "About that-" Dipper began speaking, rubbing his neck with his hand, "Wendy-"

_Toc. Toc._

Everyone's eyes widened. No, it was not even possible. The two hours until they arrived could not have finished. They were still pending the matter of taking out the trash or hide it.

"Dipper," Mabel ran into the kitchen, "I'll think of something to entertain them while you are trying to get Bill out of the house." Having said that the female twin disappeared behind the wall toward the door.

"You heard my sister, Bill, wait upstairs in my room." Dipper spoke turning around to see the demon but the color drained from his body when he saw Bill floated behind Mabel. "Stop him!" Dipper shouted to the others. They had to stop Bill. That stupid demon would ruin the plan he had not yet thought of.

Wendy ran after Bill and Mabel, but it was too late because the girl was opening the front door and two figures entered.

Stanley Pines and Stanford Pines.

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! It's a great pleasure to see you again!" Mabel tackling her Grunkle's in a tight hug. She really had missed them all over this year.

"Don't worry Mabel, now we're here." Ford gently stroked Mabel's hair, "Tell me something, the earthquake was awful? Stanley almost has a heart attack."

Stan crossed his arms, looking away, "It was a little scare, nothing serious. I hope nothing has happened to my business or you will all be in serious trouble."

"It's funny that you mention business and problems in one sentence because that most of your life is about."

Stan, Mabel and Ford paled for the same reason. The well-known and hated voice of the only being that they never thought to see again.

The two elders looked up and the pair of two eyes found the triangular one-eyed creature, smiling.

"Bill." Both elders said at the same time.

"Incidentally, Crescent, your merchandise has returned to be restored, take that as a ' _No hard feelings_ ' for me, even though was you who " _erased me_ " from this world." Bill said with air quotes.

Dipper had no time to say something when his two Grunkles fell to the floor of the house, passed out.

"Yesh, I said that he would have an attack at ninety-two." Bill rolled his eyes as if he was disappointed.

" _BILL!_ "

♚

"Fuck _? What did you just say, Walter?_ " Oh no. Oh holy heaven, she had not mentioned his name, his _real_ name, had she? Because if it is so- "Walter _!_ " That meant he was in trouble with his mother. " _Expect you have not said that word in front of Greg or I swear you and I have a serious talk about this young m-_ "

 _No worries Mom, Greg didn't hear me at all._ _No, not at all._ _My younger brother is more entertaining watching the head of the creature who tried to kill us months ago in the afterlife but not to worry, having said an obscenity in front of my younger brother is now one of my minor problems._ _At least that you want to become his ally and turn me into a tree!_ "Don't worry mother, I didn't say in front of Greg." Wirt did his best to speak as calmly as possible. "He is with a tree- _Sorry_ _!_ Near a tree."

"Oh _._ " Minerva's voice seemed to calm down, " _Sorry I was upset It's just that being stuck in traffic is stressing me and, well, you're not a guy who says bad words right and left, you have to excuse me._ "

Wirt sighed in relief. His gaze never off his younger brother and the monster who appeared to be unconscious on the floor of the cemetery. _Please tell me I'm dreaming_. He repeated over and over again.

" _Thank goodness the cellular signal is still of excellent quality in the city. We tried to contact with the owner of the company in Nevada but the reception was terrible. Anyway just I wanted to know how you were, if you are hungry and all that._ "

Hungry? Right now all these physiological activities were completely forgotten by his mind. "Ah... Sure.... Yes... A lot." Oh my! He was beginning to fail in his mission to be calm.

" _Do you feel good, Wirt?_ " His mother asked, " _If something happened to you then I'll call Nathan or I'll walk up to the house-_ "

"No! I'm fine!... Just- Stunned by the earthquake."

" _Okay son, you can rest, I know that these months have been difficult for you and now with this event and you two are alone at home-_ "

Wirt bit his lower lip, if his mother knew that they had come out during this incident.

" _If you see me or Nathan not arrived before eight, can you go with Mrs. Daniels? I would feel more comfortable if you two are with her._ "

"Sure mom. I hope you're well. Like Nathan."

" _I hope the same Wirt, take care of Greg. See you later._ " His mother hung up her phone.

"I hope so." Wirt hung up the phone with forced steps he walked towards Greg, who was now sitting opposite The Beast's body. Hell, he did not see the creature breathed, what if he was dead? Wait, does this maybe breathing? Wirt was about to suffer a heart attack or a migraine. "Greg let's go home." Wirt suggested, taking Greg's hand.

"Wirt, It's the old Beast!" Greg shouted. Oh well, at least now he knew his brother had memories of the hellish creature. What if Greg remembered that he was going to be converted into a tree? No, his brother must have seen _only_ light and fun in The Unknown, he believed he was playing a game for return them home. And it would be. It was just a _game_ to Greg.

"Yes Greg, what a great joy, now let's go before he wakes up." _And if he wakes up I w_ _o_ _n_ _'_ _t be the first thing he sees._

"But he's here, sleeping on the ground."

"That's why we let him sleep." _Forever_ , "Do you remember what Nathan says? We must let rest to the old people." How old was this creature?

"Yes but mom says that everyone deserves to sleep in a bed."

Why Greg can not understand that he is trying to save their lives? And to top it all he has to use one of the phrases of his mother. Why Greg could not be more like his father? Oh, because then Greg could be his real brother and would be like Wirt and he preferred Greg be Greg before turning on a drama queen like him... Did he just call himself Drama Queen? Wirt that does not matter now! The important thing here is that your brother has just proposed, unwittingly, bring The Beast to a bed to sleep.

Wirt wandered his eyesight between The Beast and Greg's happy face. No, he was not considering very seriously, taking with them The Beast, _was he_?

"Greg, no."

"Why?"

 _Because he tried to kill us!_ "This is not so difficult to understand." But Greg's face reproaching him kept appearing in his head, he must play a card. At least a subtle and delicate way to say something to his brother about what The Beast tried to do with them, "Besides what if he wakes up and tries to play again and this time we lose?"

"But The Beast's playground is The Unknown and here we are not in The Unknown, this is our playground!"

Wirt gave up. Competing against his brother in an argument was one in a million.

"Before doing this so- Stupid, how can you be so sure that we will not lose?"

"Because we beat him once, Wirt. And if he tries to play us we can beat him again."

His younger brother was so full of hope that he often had to remember that he was alive thanks to Greg. His brother was wrong in something, they won't beat The Beast, was Greg who beat him. Have been his decision both would wandering in the forest of the afterlife unable to return to their world, what would have become of them?

"Also in ' _Duck-Tective_ ', Duck-Tective befriend Bon Guin when the poor penguin had been dethroned from his cold evil empire." Of course, Greg had to get the weirdest idea of the strangest infantile show he has seen in his life, something very Greg's. Before his trip to The Unknown Wirt would have said that was a caricature and this was real life, none of that happened in real life. _None_.

Wirt put his hands on his hips and returned his gaze to The Beast's body. Very cautiously he touched with the tip of his foot the wooden body on the floor. This did not moved or made a sound of annoyance or complaint. "And depending on your point of view, how do you plan to take him home?"

Greg's eyes twinkled at what was said by his brother. Yes! He knew his brother would support him, Wirt is a great older brother. He was happy to be Wirt's younger brother. "We can carry him."

Ok, the mere thought of having to tree creature on his back and walking a long way from the cemetery to his house where a lot of people were gathered outside their homes by an earthquake occurred very recently was a very bad idea and Wirt simply could not process it completely on his head. "Perhaps we should think of something else." Wirt said, eyes never leaving The Beast. _Please do something_. The teenager wanted to know if this was alive or dead. Something to confirm the false security that he had right now.

"What about a car?"

"And you know how to drive?" Wirt jokingly asked, knowing the answer.

"No, but you soon will and then you can go for a walk with Sara like in the old movies."

"Greg!" Wirt yelled embarrassed, forgetting for a moment that there was a demon sleeping beside him, "That's-" Hold on, "A good idea."

Of course, if they had The Beast in a vehicle they arrived home faster. And as might have forgotten, Kathleen's four-wheeler. In the Sweet Sixteen of his friend she had received a lot of sports equipment, the girl loved sports. Wirt had given her a pair of skates, he knew his friend was very fast. Although Kathleen had to come to the cemetery with the four-wheeler, he would not risk to go her home and leave Greg alone with The Beast or worse, leave The Beast alone and perhaps wandering freely in his city.

Wirt had no choice but to call his friend. Obviously she was nervous when she answered; Never before in his life he had heard her that way, maybe she was frightened by the earthquake. He also had been but in this current situation was not possible to be scared by an earthquake. So when he asked her four-wheeler she asked for an explanation, Wirt was not the kind of guy who would use an four-wheeler without an explanation. So the next few minutes Wirt had to let Kathleen asked what she wanted once both back to school.

That seemed to convince his friend since immediately Wirt could hear her tell her parents that she would come out a time to see Sara and Rhonda and then she said goodbye saying that in ten minutes would be at the cemetery entrance.

"Well, we have one less problem on our hands." Wirt said once hung up his cell phone and returned with Greg and The Beast. His brother touched the head of the creature, "Does he still does not move?"

Greg shook his head, "And neither it looks that he breathes. How do you think he came here?"

"I have no idea Greg."

"Do you think Beatrice, The Woodsman or Lorna can also appear here?"

 _No Greg, they are dead_ , "Who knows." He couldn't tell him that all those people in The Unknown were ghosts trapped in The Limbo. But if The Beast was here, maybe the others have the same chance to come, maybe. But now the mystery was why The Beast was in his world and - Alive? Even if was up to him the only supernatural creature of that world he would have liked to have now was Enoch, the giant pumpkin was much wiser and kinder than the tree sleeping on the floor.

Wirt check on the time in his cell phone, at a time Kathleen appear with her four-wheeler and then the two of them could go home with this creature. He was grateful that the girl had been so friendly, which was occasionally, when she proposed to their friends drive the vehicle. Sara had been more skilled than the three of them to the point of being like Kathleen when it was sports.

Wirt's phone vibrated noticing that ten minutes was over and then Kathleen already must be at the cemetery gates.

"Greg," Wirt called his younger brother, the boy looked at him, "You think you can watch him? I promise not to take too long."

"Okay."

Wirt turned around and ran as fast to meet Kathleen.

"Thanks for this, I promise that tomorrow I will return it." Wirt took the keys of the four-wheeler.

"Make sure not to damage it, I don't want any scratch and explain it to my parents."

"Do not worry, I'll be very careful. If my mother asks why is your four-wheeler at my-"

"Yes I know, I went to visit you and got a call from my parents. Now remember your part of the deal."

"I swear I will."

He couldn't imagine that kind of favor she would ask Kathleen once school starts at the end of this summer. But he knew it would be very tired.

Saying goodbye and promising to go to leave her four-wheeler as early as possible tomorrow, Wirt returned again in the cemetery, hoping that nothing bad had happened in the few minutes he left Greg alone with The Beast. Luckily both were the same as when he left. "Now, I think we have to drag him to the entrance."

"It is not so much the distance. I'll take care of his feet and you take care of the head."

Wirt bit his cheek, nodding and both brothers went to their respective places. He could do this, he could do it, maybe if they moved in a smooth manner The Beast wouldn't wake up.

"One." Greg indicated and both touched the creature, Wirt felt a cold death. "Two." Wirt placed his hand under the back of the Beast. Wirt could feel his body shaking while Greg looked normal, why both were so different cope with this situation? He had never been this way when he was Greg's age, if he had met a monster at his age he had fled and told his mother and father, but instead the little boy was fighting against monsters living under his bed or in the closet. "Three."

It was as if they had lifted a trunk fallen into their hands, as it was in the camp that Nathan had organized two years ago. Wirt thanked his stepfather for his efforts to please him then and he had been so mean to Nathan.

Both brothers managed to leave the cemetery and put The Beast in the four-wheeler, with Greg arguing that did not fall and Wirt ensuring that his brother did not fall when he turns the motor.

"Ready?"

The eight year kid nodded. Wirt started the engine of the four-wheeler and this started, hopefully they could go for any way that was not so transited.

"What will we do if someone sees us with The Beast?" Greg asked.

"I doubt anyone believe us that is the creature from another world, so we say it's a doll." Wirt saw both sides of the street waiting for any car or person was in place. "By the way, you know where we can leave The Beast?"

"Your room?"

"Don't even think about it!"

"Then maybe we can leave him in my room."

"Nope." He muttered. Great, now they had another problem. Before Greg decided to propose something more Wirt intervened, "We will not leave him in mom's and Nathan's room."

"Perhaps the attic. I think mom left my old mattress with the other furniture."

"We can create a bed with what is in the attic. Greg good idea."

Once at home Wirt parked the four-wheeler in front of the garage, waiting for Nathan saw it and not run over by the vehicle or he would be in big trouble with Kathleen. And as in the cemetery both retook The Beast, opening and coming into their house. The hard part would climb the stairs, the first floor to the second and then try to get into the attic.

"Greg, now I think this is a bad idea."

"Nonsense my brother."

Greg had too much energy, Wirt at his age was writing poetry or playing the clarinet that his father bought for him on his sixth birthday. His brother loved playing the trumpet, his mother even said she felt in a military camp when the youngest child mimicked some tunes that Wirt played with his clarinet. He was annoyed at being so bad with his brother since Greg was born.

"See Wirt? It was not so difficult."

Except that he almost passed out from exhaustion halfway up the attic. He and The Beast were about to fall.

"Yeah, well, now what do we do?" Wirt walked with his brother, removing some boxes, mattress and cleaning. "Do we wait for him to wake up?"

"I think so." Greg looked at the mattress, "Now we just need a blanket. I'll get a blanket!" Greg cried out and ran to the attic door. "Wait here."

Wirt kept the word in his mouth and Greg was leaving him alone with The Beast. The teenager gulped and sat on the mattress, watching the motionless body of the creature. In any time the way he made the slightest sign that he was still alive. Even when both were to fall The Beast did nothing.

"Are you still alive?" He asked even when he was not sure he would receive an answer. "Why are you here?" Wirt sighed and facepalmed. "What will I do if my mom or Nathan finds you?"

Wirt heard Greg's footsteps approaching the attic and returned to his feet, walking up to stand beside The Beast and closer as possible to the mattress. His brother walked in with his blanket, spreading it over the mattress and both ended up leaving the demon on the mattress.

Wirt watched the clock on his phone, it was four and a half. Time had flown too

"Do you think he needs to eat?"

 _If so, I hope not be me_ , Wirt thought before both leave the attic and closed the door behind him.

During the next two hours Wirt and Greg were in the kitchen looking for something to eat and deciding to do fried chicken. Once in the room, Greg turned on the television, the static on TV channels seemed to be less than how Greg described the gray snow storm in the morning.

Wirt was still present the words of his mother, if she or his stepfather did not arrive then both would go to Mrs. Daniel's house, but with a monster in the attic he was not sure he wanted leaving his home and parents with The Beast. Wirt hoped his mother arrive before sunset or just this once he disobey his mother saying that Greg had fallen asleep before going home from the old woman. He only had to make his brother was asleep before their mother arrived.

Perhaps today could allow Greg slept with him. Wirt not want to seem paranoid front of their parents. He could not tell them the reason for this was the monster who now lived in the attic of his house.

"What we see now?" Wirt asked his brother who chose TV channels looking for a good movie, he was very sure that everything this week he would see on television will be the earthquake that hit Colorado.

"' _Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite!_ '."

Wirt grimaced in disgust. That his brother had chosen that movie with that title seemed like a bad joke of fate, plus it was the worst zombie movie he has seen. These days nobody uses creativity to create good horror movies. It's not like he'll love this genre of films, in fact he was terrified to see these films, but Sara and Jason Funderberker convince him sometimes to go to premieres. Midnight premieres.

For an hour and forty five minutes, Wirt witnessed the bad actors, the worst special effects and the typical confession of love in the midst of an apocalyptic battle between the two main characters who die before a bomb explodes in the city. Greg was entertaining watching the movie with emotion as if it were the first time. He glanced toward the stairs and focusing towards the attic. During all this time he did not hear any noise that alert him.

The lights of a car in front of his house caught his attention. Wirt approaching walked in front of the window and saw his mother leaving a taxi. At least now they should not go Mrs. Daniel's house.

"Welcome home mom." Wirt greeted when his mother entered the house.

"How did it go, lady mom?"

"Hi kids." Minerva sparked the ponytail holding her brown hair and left her keys on the shelf on the wall, "How you been? Greg, you were a good boy and obey all your big brother?"

Greg glanced toward Wirt and then returned to see his mother. "Yup."

"Good. Tomorrow I promise I'll cake a chocolate cake to make up all this day. Wirt, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Oh God, he had done nothing. Ok, yes, he said an obscenity in front of his brother but that was no big deal when he apologized. Without another word he walked into the kitchen.

"Mo-" Wirt spoke but was silenced by a strong hug from his mother.

Now, Minerva was not a woman that will be shown terrified of something. If Wirt was sure something is that his mother was the bravest woman he had known and that was probably why Greg was like her. But now his mother hugged him as if she were afraid of losing him. The last time she was terrified was when he and Greg had gone to the hospital after being rescued from the other side of the wall. He remembers Greg slept with his mother clung to him.

Wirt patted the back of his mother gently, "We're fine."

"I know, I know." She sighed, "But I felt so afraid that I thought I could lose you. I should not leave you alone."

"You did not know that this could happen." Wirt separated from his mother. "We had each other. We were fine, I would protect Greg with my life."

Minerva cupped Wirt's cheek, "You have changed so much since a year ago. I did not realize the great change."

Everyone has told him the same. All except his father but was logical, the man not seen him since he had turned eleven, his parents divorced when he was seven of age.

Minerva turned away from him and opened the refrigerator to pull frozen food out. "I'll make coffee for me and Nathan, he should not be long in coming, you can go with Greg again, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes."

Wirt nodded and left the kitchen to go back to the room and sit next to his brother, who was now watching another TV show. A reality show. This was worse but he did not complain.

His stepfather came forty minutes after his mother, then he turned off the television, and the four sat around the small wooden table. Nathan commented about computers did not work and how technicians had no idea what might have happened. All the work that had been advanced for today and would be delivered early morning was ruined, so tomorrow his stepfather would have to leave very early and perhaps return until late at night. Meanwhile, his mother would go to work on Monday back to a normal rhythm.

Beyond that everything happened quieter between them. Although Wirt wanted to enjoy the tranquility always he had his gaze set into the other room, just in case he saw a shadow walking.

His mother and stepfather said good night like Greg and everyone went to their respective rooms. Wirt was about to talk to Greg about the little problem they had in the attic, but the little boy did not seem so concerned about The Beast.

Wirt went to his room before sure Greg's room was locked, inside and out.

Mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do, flashlight in hand - not the typical baseball bat, please he did not practice sports - walked into the attic, hoping that when he opened the door, nothing jumped on him.

Turning the knob he listened as the door creaked louder rather than the silence reigned again at home. Wirt walked in the attic, slowly and waiting for the tree demon continued motionless on the mattress.

At the time Greg had said that they could make a bed Wirt cursed himself for creating this bed until the last and deepest corner of the attic.

Fearfully he walked taking care not to trip over boxes and other things that his mother and stepfather kept. _How long they don't clean this place?_ Perhaps since Greg had three years. Enlightening, using the flashlight, his way he came to the end of the attic and in amazement he saw that nothing had over the old and worn out mattress.

Wirt ran inspecting that it was not an illusion created by the shadows of the night and that his now paranoid mind not playing a trick.

_There was nothing and nobody on the mattress._

_The Beast was not._

Wirt was about to fall and collapse. The demon that almost killed them was not where they left him, then where was he? His mind was quickly toward Greg, what if The Beast tried to turn his family into Edelwood trees?

Wirt turned to go check that his brother was fine but he froze in place, his legs seemed to have stuck to the floor and all color was drained from his face.

A completely black hand softly closed the attic door and a silhouette too high was placed front the door. The colored rings looked at him, precisely to him, not anything else in this room, narrowing slightly. Wirt could not see his face, and not as if he wanted to know the true form of The Beast, but could ensure that the creature was smiling. He is smiling as if he had seen an old friend. An old friend who you would wish to crush their neck.

"Adorable house is the one you have," The colored rings sparkled harder, " _Young Lover._ "

✯

Marco and his parents were sitting on the family couch. Only he is listening to the strange meeting in the kitchen and Marco hoped not end in the flames of Hell or with storm rainbow as Star had threatened at first.

The boy still remembers how all this start and everything went with him letting out those two words that made his mother will be shocked. It was not his intention but simply see a demon that could fry him and it was his best friend's ex-boyfriend who by the way he stole a dance, it was not something which one wanted to see their first vacation day just before jet off.

Marco would have fought at her side, just in case Tom was unstable but the princess ended up making him aside and just focused on Tom. Before Tom could say anything Star already had her wand ready for the attack and she had started a fight if not for Brian intervened asking to speak to the Princess of Mewni, Star was reluctant at first but seeing that she was at Marco's home with both parents she couldn't expose them to any danger, was still present the kidnapping of Marco. So grudgingly she agreed to speak privately with Tom and Brian.

Meanwhile that brings us to the present time where Marco and his parents waited for Star finished her talk.

" _No way_ _!_ " Star shouted angrily and walked away from the kitchen only to be followed by Brian and Tom.

"Starship-" Tom tried to talk to her but Star was so angry that no words could be uttered by the teenage demon's lips.

"No Tom. You're not going to _stay_ in this house."

Marco's eyes widened at what Star had said, does Tom want to live here? Why? To be near Star or he has idea he was who stole his dance with Star?

His father got up from his seat and walked toward them, Marco begged his father was not hurt.

"Sorry to interrupt their eh - Fight, but what is what happens Star? You're not one of the people who deny welcoming someone, well except Gustav-" Star grimaced in disgust when he mentioned the _exchange boy's_ name.

Brian decided to intervene, seeing that neither the prince nor the princess put their part to speak, "Mr. Diaz as Tom's spiritual guide and tutor-"

Oh, also he is his tutor, he had never heard of humans being responsible for a demon, every day it is learned new things.

"-I would ask refuge for the young prince."

"Refuge?" Marco asked, approaching his father.

"Tom," Star looked at the demon, "He made a fatal mistake in his kingdom it could cost his life."

 _Cost him his life?_ That was a very serious issue! Why Star seemed so unsympathetic to the fact that her ex-boyfriend could die? "What is this about?" Marco asked, knowing that maybe he does not receive an answer, since he was dealing with issues of royalty, apparently.

Tom clucked, and he looked in the eye and Marco was sure that the demon knew he was that masked man, was not so hard to guess, that was the suit he wore when one of the mariachis who worked with his father was sick and he had to be their replacement. "I end up _accidentally_ destroying a very important area of my dimension."

"Accident." Star huffed and Marco could see that Tom looked nervous.

"How important was that area of which you speak?" Marco asked again, returning to have Tom's eyes on him.

"Too much important because at that time several members of the Royal Council was discussing matters of The Underworld."

Oh no. He knew what meant trouble in the kingdom. Wars, conflicts, betrayals, usurpations, legends containing foreshadowing.... Wait no, he read ' _A Song of Storm and Fire_ '. Obviously things like that couldn't happen. But he was thinking about his dimension not in other dimensions.

"You had an anger problem." Marco realized what his lips had let slip. Star had told him that Tom did not like being reminded his angry outbursts.

The demon narrowed his three eyes and the human boy swear that glittered with hatred towards him, "Had it done so, that's none of your business."

"Enough Tom," Brian spoke, "You should not be talking like that with people."

Star crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Especially if you _want_ those people to _help you_."

Tom's face of anger disappeared, "Sorry Starship."

"Then why you want to stay?" Mrs. Diaz spoke, making an appearance and bringing back to the presents the main topic of conversation.

"Because Tom's parents are concerned about the state of their son as his guide and tutor I am also concerned. The Council of the Kingdom of The Underworld believe that the best thing would have been for Tom-"

"The best thing was that I was executed."

Silence reigned in the hall of the Diaz house. Executed? That's not - Well, if he came to think of things this way The Kingdom of Mewni although very advanced in technology as the interdimensional travel also it seemed somewhat behind on some issues. For example the way that poor people lived, was like in medieval times. And the way they seemed to deal with the problems of its Kingdom, as Star told sometimes.

So the possibility that Tom, a prince of The Underworld with anger issues who destroyed a very important area of his dimension, where important people were arguing, was sentenced to death don't seem a great folly.

"So you want to stay because you are being sought by your dimension?" Marco was afraid to even ask, Star was angry with Tom and well, Star has committed minor crimes in her Kingdom but she _never_ destroyed a part of her dimension, or rather, she has not told him her life completely.

"He needs to stay because he needs someone who can help him control his anger issues." Brian said.

Oh.

Oh no. Wait. "Do you mean-?"

"It's you Marco." Star spoke without taking her gaze from Tom.

" _Me_ _?!_ " He was about to have a heart attack. "Why?"

"Until things in The Underworld not improve for Tom, he can not return, and Star mentioned that you helped her with her insomnia problems."

"Yes. But they did not work. Also, you seem to control him better than me. Just eh... I barely can work with Star."

Both Tom's look like Star's they seemed to say a " _what trying to say with that?_ '

Marco felt his father's hand rest on his shoulder. " _'Mijo,_ " Rodrigo spoke, "I know it seems this is a great responsibility. But you shouldn't worry, that's why we are a family, we've helped you with Star and if you accept this guy will also help you."

"After all you always wanted to help people." Mariana said, smiling at her son and support him in the decision he took.

What could he say? If he accepted that Tom lived under his roof and his ex-girlfriend's, for whom even seemed to have unrequited feelings, could be a good decision?

"Tom." The aforementioned saw the human friend of Starship, "In case I not be a good manager of anger for you, what happened to you?"

The demon took a rigid posture, "Then I returned to The Underworld and accept the consequences."

That meant that if he did not make a good job, Tom would return to The Underworld to die. _Yes dad, I have a big decision that I take_. Marco breathed several times before finally giving his answer, "I will accept help Tom with his anger issues."

"Perfect." Brian and his parents agreed.

"But-" Marco continued talking, "Right now my family and I were about to go on vacation and-"

"No problem," Tom spoke, "My suitcases are ready."

"Did you have everything ready?" Star asked suspiciously.

"Of course not, Starship, but if Marco will not cooperate then I had to continue seeking or otherwise, back to my dimension."

"Rodrigo, Marco, come up his suitcases in the car, he will also come with us to see your aunt."

For thirteen minutes he and his father were accommodating the Prince of Darkness's bags inside the car, Marco was careful with the rabbit cage; It was very strange that a prince of The Underworld had a pet rabbit, he always believed that Tom could have a dragon or a dog with three heads, then he quickly understood that he shouldn't judge people or demons or interdimensional beings by their appearance.

Maybe help Tom would not be so bad.

Marco saw Brian talking to his mother and Star. Mariana seemed interested in what the boy said while Star much she wanted to ignore whatever they were talking she seemed to pay attention. Marco had to send a message to Ferguson that he had to come for the puppies to the house of his neighbor, they had lost time and his aunt did not accept tardiness.

"Everybody in the car!" His father gave notice after accommodate the last suitcase

Rodrigo was the first one in the car, followed by Mariana who took the passenger seat next to her husband. Star came in and then Marco. Brian gave some final advice to Tom and the demonic prince got into the car, sitting next to Marco. So the young man stood in the middle of the prince and princess of different dimensions. More awkward the matter could not be.

"So, Tom," Rodrigo Diaz talked taking the attention of the prince, "What kind of music is your favorite?"

"In The Underworld we don't have much variety as on the Earth," The demon said, "In fact most of the things that the Earth produces does not enter our _Interdimensional Treaty for Import and Export_ , due a - Well, very old situations."

Marco arched an eyebrow at the response of the demon prince. He wanted to ask your friend about that Treaty but the girl still with very little humor to want to talk.

"I'm not very picky about the music that exists in this dimension, but I hate boy bands that are the copy of the copy."

Marco chewed his inner cheek and watched Star, the princess' favorite music genre was those types of bands. He just hoped she didn't want to put the CD playing.

However it was his father who put his own selection of discs in the CD player, Marco knew all those songs were the favorite of his father.

"Hey, Star," Marco spoke to the princess, once Tom's attention was drawn to the new musical style, "Do you know the reason why Tom was angry?" He would have liked to ask Brian but he believed that could infuriate the demon.

Star bother even more, "Appears that the daughter of one of the members of the Council was following him all day waiting have a date with him and she wouldn't take ' _no_ ' for an answer, so Tom reached his limit."

That wasn't nice to know. Tom was quite attractive and if he wanted to go to school with them were a lot of girls who would like insistent have a date with the Prince of Darkness. He just hoped he did not want to go to high school with them.

_I think I made a horrible decision._

⚜

If someone had told him that one day he would see the girl who was about to kill him a year ago Norman may have thought that this could only happen in books or movies, it' more, he could include that idea in his upcoming projects.

But as the figure took shape and form this turned out to be Agatha Prenderghast, Norman felt that everything couldn't be fiction in this life. After all they say that some legends have some truth in their stories.

“Agatha?” Norman was surprised by the presence.

The ghost looked not exactly as he remembered. Her skin as clothes and hair were not a greenish yellow with lightnings appearing to her right and left. Instead Agatha looked more human like before saying goodbye to sleep with her mother. She seemed more scared than he was.

“Norman?” Agatha walked or rather floated to his side.

A cold hand rested on his cheek. She was solid, she was not like other intangible ghosts of the people. She was not a ghost. What is she was?

“How is it that you're here?” Norman asked.

The girl looked at him and then at her hands, as if she were seeing them for the first time, “I- I do not know, just remember we were un- Under a tree and then I fell asleep.”

Hold on a moment. That's the last memory of Agatha? But that was almost a year ago.

“Norman, what happens?” The ghost girl looked scared and he was just as scared.

Did Agatha had not met with her families in the afterlife? She never saw her mother. She may have been trapped in the Limbo - “Do you know how long ago was that?”

Agatha denied shaking her head. “I guess some days ago.”

“It was almost a year ago.”

The girl's eyes widened in fear. Norman hoped to see some yellow lightning appear around her body but instead Agatha showed only fear and confusion. “Then I- I never see my-”

“Norman!” His mother's voice was heard on the first floor of the house, “Courtney called and said that her bus stopped at Hillsgrove, we'll go for her.”

“All right Mom!!” Norman said before listening to his door closed and the car start the engine. Until the vehicle did not move away and the house was not silent Norman and Agatha did not speak. “So-” Norman began to speak, “Where were you?”

“I have no idea, I thought - They taught me that when you die then come back to see your family but I- I don't see anything. I just slept.”

That did not explain much of what happened with the girl witch. “You can still, you know, create lightning when you're angry?”

“No!” Agatha quickly replied, “Well I don't know. I'm as confused as you.” Norman put his hand on her shoulder, patting her. “What are you doing?” The girl asked, puzzled.

“It is a gesture, has many meanings, for example, _you should not worry_.”

Agatha smiled slightly, Norman could not tell if her cheeks were flushed because the girl's skin was white. “It's a nice gesture.” She said. Agatha took one look at the room, “What are all these dolls?”

“They are not dolls. Clay figures are for movies.”

“Movies? What is that?”

How could he explain to a two hundred years old girl what a concept as simple as the word ' _Movie_ ' meant. “They are figures that move, speak and interact to entertain each other.”

“Do you mean that they move with magic?” Agatha stepped up to take one of the clay figures,

Norman did not care if they moved, after the earthquake he would have to start again his film. “Nope. You yourself can move them taking shots of movement.”

“I think it would be easier if you use magic.”

Norman denied, “I don't think such thing as moving them through magic is possible.” Or is it? After all he sees and talks to ghosts, besides talking to an old and famous witch of his town. Perhaps there are people with magical abilities. “You think you can try?” Norman asked the girl. Agatha seemed unhappy and Norman feared had offended her she had done too much damage with her powers. “Sorry.” Norman said, “I did not want you to have a bad memory.”

Agatha nodded but only continued to see the figure in her hands.

Norman scratched his neck, clumsy at anything to say or do. “Are you hungry? I can prepare you a sandwich as my family is back.”

Agatha - She can eat? He had never before heard of a ghost could eat or sleep. Although she now didn't seem be a ghost, they were very different, and a poltergeist he did not believe, they were responsible to make disasters at home. However there was the matter of his family. What is he would tell them? Because if the girl was not a ghost that meant his family could see her now.

“Follow me to the kitchen.”

Norman left the studio being followed by Agatha who was floating looking curiously at all the furniture were on their way to the kitchen. Norman reminded the zombies a year ago, they just looked confused and scared with all these oddities in the world today.

Once entrance to the kitchen, Norman kindly asked the girl to take a seat while he prepared sandwiches. Taking the bread, cheese, ham and lettuce he spread both pieces of bread and the knife carefully sliced the lettuce and cheese.

Agatha though puzzled by all these strange objects also her gaze was in Norman. That curious and quirky kid who understood how she felt. How many years she had been hearing the same story? The town she knew had changed too. She saw Norman take the pieces of bread and put them on a metal sheet and crush them. In a few seconds the metal tray was lifted up and two pieces of bread looked toast.

“Here.” Norman placed the sandwiches on a plate and in front of Agatha, "I hope you like them."

The witch of twelve took the piece of bread, Norman thought she couldn't touch solid objects but proved to be wrong, Agatha took a bite of the sandwich and she showed a face of acceptance with the taste of the sandwich. "Tasty. Never before have eat it."

"And that you didn't eat the food from my grandmother, she liked to cook."

During the next few minutes Norman took care to explain all the objects in the kitchen, microwave, stove, refrigerator, whatever Agatha's time didn't have. After a few moments in the kitchen Agatha and Norman moved to the living room, thinking it would be much better to explain the word ' _movie_ ' with a real movie. So he chose a favorite that he and his grandmother used to see.

Norman felt Agatha's head falling on his shoulder, she saw delighted the characters on television. After all she was a little girl who was afraid of the world. What if the town finds out that the witch is back? And his family? He could not ask the girl what she was, that would be very disrespectful.

How long she would be in his world?

❅

If at all possible that her jaw hit the floor Coraline was sure that would happen, like The Cat had said, this is not something you see every day. And it was precisely that, not only the door to The Otherworld was about to break! The Cat was speaking as the day she met him in The Other World!

"Do you just talk?"

"Yeah, and I'm as surprised as you." The Cat's voice didn't sound surprised.

Coraline had no idea where to look, if she looked toward the small door waiting for The Other Mother escape or if she looked at The Cat and then she would pinch her arm to make sure not to be asleep. "I doubt that even you are."

"So apparently I have to keep talking for you to believe me."

"No!" Coraline cried with some fear, "Just - I just - Maybe I hit very strong my head, this earthquake was terrible." She walked with cautious steps toward The Cat, always aware of the little door in the wall, "What's going on?"

The Cat looked at her, then at the little door and then looked outside the department and the sky, "An unbalance."

 _Unbalance_ _?_ _In which?_ Coraline stop looking at The Cat and approached the little door in the wall, taking a deep breath to ask what she least wanted right now," _She_ will leave at any time, is not it?"

The Cat narrowed his eyes and jumped from the railing of the window, walking and leaping gracefully up the chimney, "Eventually."

" _Eventually_?! What do you mean with that? Please Cat, I need an answer, something that gives me a false confidence that everything will be fine." All those nights waking up sweaty and with tears spilling from her eyes were nights she didn't want to remember. She didn't want to tell her parents because she hated spiders when she ignored them before, but she couldn't see a cobweb or rag doll without feeling threatened.

"The unbalance we just feel is what caused the earthquake and that I can speak in your world. It is as if the fabric in the universe had been broken." The Cat was surprised, this magnitude of power he had not felt it since almost a year ago. Though a year ago several strange sensations were presented around the country that he thought was only his imagination but the closest to the magnitude of this earthquake was last summer.

"I'm not understanding this very well. Only now the whole town is in danger." Coraline put her hand on the rip on the wall, "The Key will not be able to close this"

The Cat shook his head. "Not even trying to seal it with cement. All we have is to wait for The Other Mother come out and fight."

"I already fight against her once. I can do it again." Coraline turned away from the door, "That was _her_ world. This is _my_ world. I have advantage."

"You are scared." The Cat spoke.

"Of course I am. I don't think anyone around my age have gone through this. An experience that nobody wants." Coraline was afraid, but not only for her, "Cat what if she comes in to our world?"

The Cat approached her and Coraline took him in her arms, "She will do what she was born. Eat children."

"We are in danger. If only-"

"This is not your fault. None of us knew anything about this." The Cat jumped out from Coraline's arms to return to the railing of the window and start walking, "If we are going to fight against her then we will need all the help." The feline jumped out of the department, "Follow me."

Coraline saw The Cat disappear up the stairs of the apartments, where he was going? Did he know any way to stop this? It was possible, he helped her when she was trapped in The Other World. Giving a last glance at the door the blue-haired girl left her apartment to follow to The Cat.

She soon realized that they had reached the door of Wybie's department. "What are we doing here?" Coraline asked, knocking on the door a few times before hearing Wybie's voice to get closer to open.

"Jonesy?" Wybie opened the door of his apartment, surprised to see his friend, "Do you come to mock the prisoners?"

"Funny but no, I came here because-" Coraline looked at The Cat, the feline quickly entered into the department.

"Are you came to leave him?" Wybie asked, letting Coraline in, "Or is it an excuse because of the earthquake and thus use my phone with WiFi."

Coraline forgetting for a moment the presence of the cat and what was said by her strange friend, she had to tell Wybie, after all he was one of the few who believed her. "You will not believe what just happened." _How do I say this?_

"Yes I just said, the earthquake. My grandmother did not even wake up and that worry me."

Now the earthquake was the least of her worries, she had not even called her parents and they had not tried to contact her.

"Wyborn." The old woman's voice was heard from her room.

The aforementioned huffed, "Going granny! She needed help to get up. How convenient that she has just woken up when you ge-"

Their eyes widened when they saw the old woman out of her room, walking without her cane and with The Cat on her shoulder. Last year when Coraline had the pleasure of meeting her, she could barely walk.

Coraline was expecting a lot of things right now."What does this mean?"

"I said we need all possible help if we are to stop her." The Cat spoke, Coraline was almost ready for Wybie scream.

"After all, you weren't the first to know the tricks of the old witch." Wybie's grandmother started laughing.

Coraline wasn't prepared for this. And Wybie too, as the boy fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

 

**MLYLWB RH YLIM PMLDRMT NZTRX**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. But the re-registration to the college will begin in a few days and had to work to make money and pay it. But for the moment I have already advanced enough with this fanfic, with the next chapter the introduction was over and the problems began.
> 
> I'm also excited because The Cipher Hunt is over and strange, and some ironically, a baby was the first to shake hands with Bill, aww so cute. Oh well we wait a few years to see if Bill Cipher is alive inside that little boy. Tender and chilling, just imagine if he turns out to be an imaginary friend.
> 
> Now, as I said before, not all fandoms have the same length but in the future will have their own chapters to compensate this. Since we also need individual development of the characters.
> 
> Thanks for read this chapter!
> 
> You can always contact me on Tumblr: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also some of my future stories: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/My-Fanfics)


	3. Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, it has been a long time since I update this fanfic, do not fear, I will not give up, but I have some things (actually a lot) to say so I see you until the end of this chapter.
> 
> Sorry if there are errors.
> 
> Update: Wednesday - 26 - October - 2016

_Connected from person to person_

_A wire shining in pale indigo blue_

_So very beautiful, like a thread of silk_

_Are these the chains which we call destiny?_

_Even if I search for it, it binds me_

_And I cannot reach it_

_What is Wired Life_

_Being unable to escape_

_Is foolish yet beautiful_

_There is Wired Life_

_~ Wired Life by Meisa Kuroki[~](http://carlenne.livejournal.com/46034.html)  
_

▲

What could have been a fun and happy summer has became a tense and silent battlefield.

“You can't come now.” Wendy fought with her friends through her cellphone, she tried to prevent the cool kids decided to climb Thompson's van, and drive straight to the Shack to visit the Pines family.

“ _Wendy!_ ” The five guys in the speakerphone yelled frustrated and the redhead had to ward off the cell.

“ _You said they had returned!_ ” Lee's voice spoke.

“ _We wanted to go see them!_ ” Nate's voice complained, “ _Remember the old days at the old reliable 'Dusk 2 Dawn.' The ghosts maybe allow us to have fun_ _inside the store_ _if we go with them._ ” After the events of the Weirdmageddon, the cool kids returned to the haunted store, the ghosts recognized them and let them hang out around the store, _without_ getting inside their beautiful shop.

 _Yes guys that would have been awesome, unfortunately those plans will have to be canceled until further notice._ “Really sorry, I was so happy to see that I forget that they were exhausted from the trip.” That lie was more false and cheaper than the Shack's merchandise.

“ _Bo~_ ” The five voices chorused.

Wendy rolled her eyes, an idea popped up in her mind, “Okay, come to the Shack, we can work to decorate for Soos' wedding. We need strong arms.”

“ _Uh…_ ” The voices hesitated and Wendy knew that she had prevented the panic would spread - perhaps - in the town.

“ _Look at the time, my parents must be worried._ ” The first time in all the time Tambry's voice was heard.

“ _Yes, I must let her go home._ ” Robbie's voice apologized.

“ _And_ _I must take my nephew to the doctor._ ” Thompson's voice was the last Wendy heard before hanging up her cell phone, except Nate's voice saying: “ _Thompson your nephew is in a camp._ ”

Wendy smiled from the other side of the telephone line, the last thing she wanted was her friends discovered the problem that the Pines family - she, Soos, Melody and _abuelita_ were part of this now - had among their hands. The redhead looked away to where a heated discussion took place. Wendy bit her lip and walked over to lean on the wall and hear what the triangular demon had to say and, just in case, intervene.

Dipper tried to hide the panic that filled every part of his body. Stan and Ford may have died, been in a coma and was all the fault of the isoceles-like demon. After Stan and Ford awoke from their swoon, both elders believed it was all a dream. Wish had been. They didn't have a minute to stand when Bill appeared and asked about how they felt after an almost journey to the afterlife.

Obviously they didn't take it very well. Stan placed his brass knuckles and Ford had his laser gun ready to attack Cipher.

Dipper had to intervene before someone - his Grunkles - got hurt. No matter how many creatures around the world they had fought or known, they were facing a demon from another dimension who cost the destruction of Stan's mind to destroy him. Only to have the bitter realization that the demon had come back from the dead, of course, if he _ever_ was dead.

And now here were all the four Pines sitting in the small hall of the Shack. Dipper had to ask them to stop attacking the demon, which was not easy, and so prove to Bill, much to his dismay, that he must trust him or otherwise reveal that the demon was not so powerful as before. They all looked as if he had said the world's craziest. Or if he was being possessed. Dipper saw that Mabel was ready to hit him with the telephone directory.

Dipper looked at his sister sat beside him, her eyes expressing hatred and fear at the same time, Dipper was not sure which emotion was stronger. Then he looked at Stan and Ford. Stan was holding an ice pack on his head, Soos' courtesy, both elders watched the triangular demon floating in the room. Their eyes expressed much more than hate or fear.

“How did you come back to this world? How did you're inside _my_ house?” Ford asked, deep down hoping that Cipher's answer was wrong to use his laser gun. It was very strange that Dipper had asked this conversation. Try talking to Bill logically always resulted in disaster.

Dipper swallowed, there was the question he feared being heard. The younger twin waited patiently for Bill's answer. _Remember your deal_ , he thought even though he was not sure if the demon was reading his thoughts right now. He must make a list of things Bill could do.

Bill's eye curved in a smile, and began to laugh. Well, He was still just as crazy., that could give credence to the story he was narrating. “Sixer, you should know that I am an all-powerful being, I know everything, and therefore I saw what both planned to do when I catches you in the Fearamid.”

“ _That's impossible!_ ” Ford snapped, standing up and aggressively accusing Bill, “You told me yourself that it's impossible to see the future because of too many lines of time and _nobody_ knew what was right. The possibilities were endless!”

“I'm surprised you even remember our old days as colleagues, Sixer. I have sweet memories of the portal.”

Ford's knuckles got white remembering his biggest mistake.

“So back to what matters to us, _to me_. I have returned because in one of the many lines of time I saw my ' _destruction_ ' and obviously nobody wants to see that, so when it was time to make the deal with ' _Sixer_ ' I hid a part of my power within the stone statue and _voila_!”

“Then you are weak now Bill, you have only a fraction of your powers in you.” Stan said, maybe he didn't know enough the demon, but the way in which his twin idolized him in his Journals, Bill was a great influence for everyone by his power and knowledge.

“You're right Crescent, which surprised me coming from you, but here our good friend IQ knows that my true power wasn't shown in the previous Weirdmageddon, that just was minimal.”

Ford couldn't fight. Bill was right, if only he had given equation to come out of Gravity Falls, the World- No, all his dimension had known Bill Cipher's chaotic power. But- “That doesn't matter now Bill, I want you out of my house and away from my family!”

Bill stood idly by, “Sorry I can't do that Sixer, because if I walk away from this dump, I'll have to destroy my other half.”

Everyone in the house observed him carefully. _What he meant by that?_

“That's right friends. Today just before everyone could find out,” Bill floated to stand beside Dipper, “I create a bond between an all-powerful being and a simple bag of meat.” Bill's hand was placed on the twin male's forehead, revealing his birthmark. “Look at this Sixer, how many people have constellations in their bodies? This child is special and is why I decided to choose him as my guest to hide a part of my power. Try to hurt me or attack me, and I'll do something ten times worse to your great nephew. So these magical barriers in your home and town are no longer a problem for me.”

Everyone was speechless and horrified. Well not exactly all. Dipper wanted to beat Bill at his stupid eye. How the hell he comes up saying that he has his powers? It was likely that his family saw him as a threat now. No, this couldn't happen to him. He just wanted a _normal_ summer.

Ford was defeated. He couldn't save his family, he wasn't make sure that that stupid statue was well hidden in the depths of the forest. It was his fault that all this mess start, if only he had not been obsessed with anomalies none of this would have happened... _If only he had been born normall_ y. It was his fault that Dipper was bonded to this demon, to Bill Cipher. Bill was right, the earthquake was a clear example of that being from another dimension was still powerful.

“Dipper-” Ford spoke to his nephew, the younger twin's heart broke to see the depressed old man's face, “I'm really sorry.”

He was not like Mabel, he didn't know how to cheer people up. “Great Uncle Ford is not your fault.” _Really?_ Of all the things he could say he had to say the most used worldwide phrase?!

Ford gave a heavy sigh and then left the room, safer to go to the basement of the Shack. Dipper hoped his Great Uncle didn't make something awful. Stan also got up from the couch and left the room. Although he would like to follow his older brother, he knew that Ford wouldn't let him see him defeated and he didn't know what to say to this frustrating situation. If only he had better care to these children.

The twins listened as the bags were taken and steps up the stairs. Stan didn't even went to the cash register or make sure the goods. The day wasn't even five o'clock in the afternoon and everyone were already feeling tired.

“Dipper, why didn't you say anything about this?” Mabel asked, concerned about her twin's welfare.

“Dipper you should have said it, I could have hit Bill and you'd be hurt.” Wendy approached them, narrowed her eyes toward the golden demon, she must calm down before acting impulsively.

“I never saw Mr. Pines so sad.” Soos watched the directions in which the elders had retired, “I'll see if _abuelita_ can prepare a delicious meal to cheer them up.” The friendly ex-handyman left the room.

 _I did_ _n'_ _t even have a plan for this_ , Dipper thought, watching the demon that was floating in the room and now watched the photos Soos and his grandmother had placed in the cabin. Bill was a very good actor for this. And if he didn't know what was happening then he may also have believed that lie. “I don't want to worry you. But this also is my fault.”

“Well I had to hold on to the first living thing who walked beside me, so if you haven't wanted to go into the woods maybe you now would follow a normal life.” Bill said, no matter if he was acting or not.

Wendy and Mabel were so close to yelling at the triangle when they remembered that to do that, Dipper would be harmed. Dipper felt guilty that his family see him as a victim than as an Bill's accomplice. He was also guilty of his actions, have believed that Bill had finally gone. Why that stupid statue was not better hidden?

Melody entered the room, though she didn't know exactly how the situation was before the Pines family and the triangle, she did her best to try to understand it. The future Mrs. Ramirez asked for help for the pizza. Mabel and Wendy decided to help her and insisted that Dipper go with them, albeit the boy refused, the girls nodded not without recall that if he needed anything they would come quickly.

A great silence settled in the room. Dipper had no idea what to do. If he was going to his room organizing his personal stuff and leave Bill or stay beside him and watch him. The last option sounded more logical though he didn't want to be another second near Bill Cipher.

“And well?” Bill broke the silence, turning around and with his arms at his sides.

“Well _what_?” Dipper raised an eyebrow, irritated that Bill decided to talk. He wasn't a fan of this silence but it was better than listening to Bill Cipher speak.

The triangular demon rolled his eye, “' _Thanks Bill for not letting my family murder me, to help you return to this world_ ' That's what I mean.”

“ _Thank you_?” Dipper was puzzled, “Are you kidding me? You made my family believe that I have half your power now. Besides, I had never meant to return you to my world.” He tried with all his willpower not to yell and then his family would know the truth. God, how long will he keep it? He must find a way to get rid of Bill. Return him where he came from.

“Hold your horse Pine Tree,” Yes, the boy had told him that he hated that nickname, well, he has no choice, “Before that pathetic gray matter that you define brain begins to formulate a plan to stab me in the back, I didn't invent this lie simply because I thought it was the best option.”

“You did not?”

“No kid, I'm a demon with infinite knowledge. I not only have you to hide my weakness, you wanted to learn magic, well while you have an excuse to be my second half, I can share one or two trick with you.”

It can not be! Did Bill had offered himself to teach him magic? This was unbelievable, unimaginable, maybe stupid, but amazing- “Wait a minute-” Perhaps he had anticipated, not everything is good in life, “Why are you doing this? What you're up to?”

“Pine Tree offends me your meaningless accusation.” Bill pretended to be hurt but Dipper don't believe him at any time, “Remember it is a win-win.” No, Pine Tree still didn't believe him, “Ugh, I _destroyed_ my dimension, the bridge between the Nightmare Realm and the Earth is not stable and _maybe_ I want Ford be insane again with the theory that at some point I will take possession of your body.”

“Forget it Bill!” Dipper tried not to raise his voice. “I won't let you hurt Ford. Physically or mentally.”

“It's not the first time your uncle suffers a mental breakdown.” Dipper was about to reply to Bill's insensitivity, “Okay, I won't hurt Ford, but you have to learn magic.”

“And why would it?”

“I already invented the lie that you are my other half. Your friends and family will not say that I am alive, if they do - _which I doubt_ \- and an angry mob is coming this way, I will keep my promise to harm you. But otherwise I will not allow a crowd thinks that a sack of meat of thirteen years who allegedly has half of my powers is seen as weak.”

Wow, that's... Some friendly if not because it is Bill Freaking Cipher. “Okay, it seems I have no choice but to accept this. I learn magic if you _won't_ hurt Ford, my family and people I consider my family.”

A few hours after things had calmed down, _abuelita_ called _everyone_ to dinner, Wendy had to see her family, so therefore were The Pines, Soos, _abuelita_ , Melody and the special guest.

Luckily they all managed to avoid thinking about Bill, strangely the demon was eating, it was rare to see someone eating through the eye; For Dipper was a bit strange to see his mortal enemy on the table with his family and him. Thanks to Melody who commented all about the wedding was that the atmosphere felt lighter. Mabel also talked about the school year and nobody paid attention to Bill. Still Dipper don't take his eyes off him. Although he was more worried about Ford and Stan, both elders didn't speak during dinner.

When dinner finished, Melody- Before retiring to her temporary home, helped abuelita to wash the dishes and accommodate them in the cupboard. Dipper must admit that a woman's touch what was lacking in the Shack to make it more welcoming-ish. Stan and Ford thanked and retreated to their rooms, but not before Stan was to the gift shop, well at least someone seemed to be regaining his humor.

The younger twins went to the room to watch TV, sadly the signal reception was too awful that all they could see was a gray rain and vaguely a show. Mabel turned off the television and both twins went upstairs to brush their teeth and prepare for sleep. Tomorrow they return to their routine work in the Shack and maybe later go to the town to see their friends. Or if Dipper decide to go to the forest and check that everything is in order, and this time he wasn't going to deviate from his path.

Wishing goodnight to their Grunkles, Soos and abuelita, The twins entered their old and problem free attic.

“So slow.” Bill said as the twins opened the door. The lunatic triangle sat on Dipper's bed reading the new Journal.

“Bill, what are you doing here?” Asked Dipper.

Mabel rolled her eyes, she decided to go straight to her bed. She could support her brother to argue against the evil nacho but now she was really tired.

“What else? If I will be bound to you the least I can do is stay close to you.”

They both knew that was not true, Bill just did it for the pleasure of irritating Dipper.

“Bill, my bed is for one person and you are, well, my size... My bed is not enough for both.” _Anything_ but Bill and he shared a bed.

Bill didn't allow Dipper continue talking so he took care to shut his mouth with a change in size, in just one moment Bill had changed his size to measure what appeared to be the size of a book. “ _Satisfied?_ And don't try to make excuses Pine Tree, even before you came to this town you slept with hundreds of books surrounding you.”

Dipper sighed resignedly. This couldn't be much worse.

Accommodating an extra pillow for Bill as a blanket for him, Dipper went to sleep. Once he found that Mabel was fast asleep, he turned around to face Bill. “I didn't know you needed or could eat or sleep.”

“I didn't know it either,” Bill said, even for him, this day was crazy, “Apparently it's because to my magic level that I feel this way.” It was horrible back to feeling at the bottom of the food chain, after all he had _done_ to get where he was, the universes destroyed, the demons that he defeated, the power he had won. Everything was taken away by a family of five mortals and their stupid bonds.

“This will not end well for both, Bill.” Dipper pricked the bridge of his nose, “Perhaps it is best to tell my family the truth.”

“And then _what_ you think will happen?” Bill knew the answer. He would fall as Sixer realized that he hadn't a bond with Pine Tree.

“I don't know. That's mortifying.”

“We have a deal Pine Tree, use it as I do.”

Dipper sighed, Mabel liked to say that amid sighs, the soul slipping away, “ _Why me?_ ”

♚

Oh God. This must be a bad dream. Perhaps during the earthquake, he hit his head with a headstone and he had unconsciously fallen like that time in the pond... Or worse and he was himself in a trance between life and death and had returned to The Unknown and The Beast had never died. _Greg if you hear me please wake me up_. Right now have Greg at his side would be most soothing.

Wirt pinched his arm just to make sure he was awake, childish, but it's all he had to make sure it was not a dream. Unlucky that The Beast's silhouette was all he saw, and the abominable creature covering his only way out.

Wirt didn't know what could be worse, speak or not speak. _Say something Wirt_ , “You wake up... I thought you were dead.” _Please don't you dare to stutter, not in front of him._

The Beast walked - _slid_ _?_ \- from the other side of the attic. At least the door was already open but this could be a test to find out what he would do. Perhaps if he ran to the door, it was bolted and The Beast would attack him before he could do anything to prevent it.

“I was never dead.” The deep voice made Wirt step back, he never thought to hear his voice, in his nightmares were only his silhouette and the colored eyes. “A demon _may_ be defeated... But _never_ dies. _Always_ will continue to live... Somehow.”

That's not good. Because that just meant he would be defeated. Although it's not as if he wanted to fight. When was their first confrontation Wirt did it by Greg. “Uh… How did you come to my world?” The Beast narrowed his eyes at the boy's question, “Because, well, I thought you were a demon of Avernus who devoured souls to live.” Wirt was surprised not to have screamed yet. Even if he did it his family could be alarmed and go to the attic only to find this tree demon. No, he couldn't allow that _and_ also he must stop having these negative thoughts. “Can you still turn people into Edelwoods?” He had no idea why he asked that. Of all the questions he could have said that was the one that escaped from his lips.

As if they were magic words The Beast's eyes gleamed so brightly that was the only evidence Wirt might have to keep believing that the tree demon still here.

The Beast raised his hand, “Do you want to know?” He asked in a tone that Wirt perceived as wicked fun.

Wirt felt something moving between his feet, wrapping around his ankle, looking down realized that a root began to get out of the attic floor. Wirt jumped away from the root and observing how this returned inside.

“That's answer enough.” The deep voice spoke.

Wirt thought of his family and everything he saw was them being transformed into trees. Does The Beast would hurt them? What he wants? _Revenge_? Against _him_?

Wirt forgot his selfish fear, “Did you hurt my family?” There was only one explanation and was that The Beast had left the attic.

Colored eyes narrowed, of course, The Beast disliked the arrogance of someone who wasn't his, “That recklessness yours.” The almost transparent shadow slipped this time closer to him, “I haven't done anything to your family, yet.”

“You still have not told me _why_ you're here, The Woodsman's blew out your Dark Lantern.”

“ _The Woodsman_ ,” The Beast's voice sounded dangerous, “When I return to The Unknown he will be the first to be a Edelwood.”

Wirt was about to reply when those colorful rings were too close to his face. The fear he had felt a year ago seemed never to have gone. But The Beast must not know this. _This is our world, this is our playground_ , it's what Greg had said. “Don't you dare to hurt them.”

“Your recklessness is really annoying.”

The Beast could still invoke Edelwood roots... Turn this reckless boy in a tree would not be so difficult to do. Though he could feel something strange in the surroundings. _Something unpleasantly familiar._

The Beast walked away from Wirt. Wirt couldn't be sure if The Beast walked or floated by the way he moved and the thick coat that completely covered his entire body, made of what looked like feathers and fur. The Beast moved to the only window which left to pass the moonlight.

“What happened before you found me?” The Beast asked.

Wirt hadn't thought much about the earthquake since he had a creature of purgatory living under his roof. “Uh… Just before find you sleeping-” Wirt could swear he heard a growl, did The Beast growled? Well he _is_ a beast and beasts growls... He thinks. “-An earthquake began and then the cemetery wall broke-”

“A gap.” The creature horned interrupted the boy.

“ _Gap_?”

“Rather a _Rift_ , Young Lover.” Wirt felt uncomfortable at the nickname, “Your little mind can not understand it, but your world is not all there is. The Unknown, it's another place, another world, where souls who died in your world end up living. Souls that couldn't be considered bad enough but not good enough. Souls who in your religion, never received the sacrament called Baptism and born deprived of faith.” The Beast slid his wooden arm on one of the antique furniture from his mother.

“Are you in that situation?” Wirt wondered aloud, unaware of the danger now. “I'm sorry.” He apologized once he realized what he said but thinking better _why he apologized?_ “What do you mean other worlds? Planets or something?”

The Beast turned around, “ _Dimensions_ , uneducated child.” It was unfortunate that they had end in that world, yet he would get his revenge against that insolent stupid. If there was anyone who deserved to be punished by his own hand was _that stupid demon_. “For your misfortune I can not return to The Unknown in a while.” And although The Beast like it or not, he had molded The Unknown at will. It was not like his old Realm, but the fear he instilled was better than nothing.

“What?!” Wirt exalted, “What do you mean by that?!”

The Beast again seem upset, and that now mattered little to Wirt. But The Beast decided to ignore his previous question, Young Lover should appreciate his life, he no longer needed to convert souls in trees to survive but to make them suffer... “If you want to be happy about this, your friends in The Unknown will be safe. _For now_.”

 _Yes_ , he was happy because Beatrice, Lorna, the Woodsman, Endicott and others would be safe from the very possible slaughter would happen if The Beast came back. _No_ , he was not happy to have The Beast in his world and worse, at _his_ home. _Greg, you and your ideas will be my end._

The attic door opened and a small figure walked inside. Both Wirt and The Beast started targeting towards the new guest who turned out to be Greg.

“Wirt, I knew you were here.” The little boy had pretended to be asleep until the silence was present in the house, leaving his room Greg had gone to Wirt's room so that both were to see how was The Beast but didn't see his brother, Greg came to a conclusion. Wirt was in the attic.

Wirt seeing his brother quickly moved to his side. What if The Beast wanted to use Greg as a blackmail? “Greg, you're supposed to be asleep.”

Greg looked behind him, watching the tall figure with horns, “Wirt, the Old Beast is awake!”

Wirt wondered how Greg was not afraid of The Beast. That creature had tried to turn him into tree. Wirt wondered if Greg's childish mind had blocked the memory. Greg vaguely remembered his time with The Beast and if he did it he recalled The Beast's challenges imposed on him. And the last thing Greg remembered being in The Unknown was that he had fallen asleep waiting to catch the Sun.

“Pleased to see you again, Gregory.”

Wirt narrowed his eyes, meanwhile Greg waved his hand. “Greg back to sleep.” He grabbed by his shoulders and began leading Greg to the exit of the attic. If Greg had come in seamlessly to the attic meant that The Beast hadn't set a trap.

“No Sir Young Man, tomorrow is Sunday, and the day after tomorrow is Monday without school, sleep is for people who don't have a purpose.”

“You should learn something from Gregory, Young Lover.”

Well, his fear for The Beast and concern for Greg's life have become irritation. Wirt turned around to see The Beast. “You have no voice here. If you are already well why don't you leave my home and leave my family alone.”

“Of course, after all your family is not the only one that could be beautiful trees.” The Beast didn't need the Dark Lantern, but that didn't mean that Young Lover would have noticed it.

 _Brilliant_. This couldn't be- _No!_ He _shouldn't_ say those words, if something had taught him the cartoons was that this phrase worsened the whole situation. Agh but it was much better if The Beast was leaving his house to terrorize someone else... Wirt facepalmed, no, he couldn't think about that, because there was a possibility that his friends see this demon and made them his victims.

“Mom says you're going to have gray hair at a young age if you keep snarling.”

“Oh so you think?” Wirt said, even with his palm pressed to his face.

Greg hummed and snapped his fingers, “Speaking of candies Lady Mom said she would make a chocolate cake.” Hazel eyes twinkled at the dessert of the day of tomorrow, “Chocolate. Wirt ask The Beast if he is hungry.”

“Uh, I really doubt that he feeds on something.” Wirt look out of the corner of his eye to the tree creature, The Beast moved through the attic, observing everything around him. Wirt wondered if The Beast was confused, he had lived in a world where everything was of the last century, although his present clothes hadn't stopped him immediately recognize him. Why?

“Come on Wirt,” Greg turned around and took Wirt's hand, “Mom and Dad are still sleeping, we can search for cinnamon cookies, I promise to be quiet as a mouse.”

Greg could be many things but be quiet could hardly be a tag for him.

The Beast stopped watching curios in this room to see the two brothers. Their relationship had changed since they were in The Unknown. Before Young Lover cared for Gregory because it was his responsibility as older brother, something for which he had decided to make the young teenager a Edelwood, that resentment against the younger child would burn beautifully and stronger in the fire of The Dark Lantern. But now that he looked better to them, Young Lover seemed willing to do whatever Gregory asked him without complaining. If he was here was because Gregory. _Interestingly_ , The Beast thought to himself. He could use it.

“Gregory.” The Beast spoke drawing the brothers' attention, “Young Lover should learn more from you.”

Wirt's shocked face was priceless and having had a camera at that moment he was sure Greg wouldn't hesitate to take it. No. This was not happening in front of him. The Beast and Greg were not talking as if they were friends. Oh my god! The Beast had tried to kill them, especially Greg who had almost turned him into a Edelwood. God! He wanted to tell his brother the truth at that moment but he knew Greg could _never_ understand. _He was just a kid!_

“Don't say more, Wirt, let's find those cookies.” Greg had his index finger pointing toward the door with a hand on his hip, imitating the position of adventurers.

Wirt saw between the attic door, Greg's innocent face and he was very confident that The Beast had a damn smile on his face.

“ _This can not be happening._ ”

✯

“ _Marco._ ”

The newly appointed shifted uncomfortably in his seat of the family car, something heavy was leaning on his shoulders.

“ _Marco_.” The soft voice spoke again, this time shaking the boy of fourteen. “Marco, wake up. We have arrived.”

Half opening an eye and then close it again, side by side cocking his head, hitting two obstacles. Marco opened wide his eyes and moving his head to the left he bumped into Star's horned diadem, leaving him sleepy and moving to the right, he almost hit an eye with one of Tom's horns.

The two interdimensional beings of royalty had fallen asleep on him. Marco moved gently, trying not to wake his friend and her ex-boyfriend. Marco managed to leave both sleepers beings, however as the Latin boy got up from his seat, Tom and Star crashed their faces. Marco heard the merry laughter of his mother.

The mansion of white and green walls with large fluorescent lights was in front of them. The mansion hardly ever changed its style. His auntie's favorite color was always green. She had a greenhouse and when Marco was younger he imagined he was in a forest or a jungle. it was almost always with his cousins with whom he used to play, his friends from school exchange always returned to their hometowns. Most of Marco's family, except for him and his parents did not live in Florida, or in the country.

His aunt came to meet but not before scolding Rafael for his tardiness. As his family arrived too late at night most of their family were already asleep.

Itati Díaz was a very direct woman, so when she saw that the family of three who always came to her home had become a family of five she didn't doubt for a second to ask about Star's and Tom's origins. Marco had said that they were exchange students, whom their flight was interrupted and therefore their summer holidays will be with them and were invited to the mansion by the Díaz family. “And why this guy has purple skin and three eyes and that girl has hearts on the cheek?”

Marco knew his aunt, and she will want an answer to justify them. Marco couldn't say that they were part of a _real interdimensional family who for troublemakers ended with a punishment which was live on Earth_. So he invented the excuse of cosplay, Star was a fan of the Maho Shojo - Unfortunately when they were not at school or fighting some monsters Star always used her magic to transport them to a dimension where she mimicked some scenes from the animes.

His aunt even with that explanation continued to stare at Star and Tom but also seemed convinced. She was almost convinced that Angie and Rafael had adopted these two young men and lady. Both much older than Marco.

“I don't understand how they can sleep just so quiet when just a few hours ago an earthquake occur.” His aunt was afraid of earthquakes due to her experience in _'_ _85's_ “When you didn't come at the usual time I was so terrified. I am surprised that no one aftershock-”

Marco had not thought about the earthquake since Tom and Brian had appeared at the door of his house, asking for refuge by the demonic prince. And then when he thought of the earthquake, Star's wand also entered the equation. The unusual and powerful glow that it had expelled could compare it with the sunlight.

It was a good luck when Auntie Itati didn't ask more about Star and Tom, Marco couldn't think what else to say about his tenants. His town was used to Star's weirdness so he would try to do as much as possible that the secret of both interdimensional beings remain a secret for most of his family.

Auntie Itati, the Díaz family and the two invited guests came to a corridor on the third floor of the mansion. Marco recognized the room where his family usually comes to live during the summer.

“I am afraid to say that I have no extra rooms for Star and Tom.” Itati said.

“Auntie, don't worry,” Rafael intervened, “Star can sleep with Angie and I will have the sofa in the room until we have something available for Star, meantime Marco and Tom can share a room.”

Itati nodded, and handed the respective room keys to Marco and Rafael.

The room was as Marco had left it a year ago, although he did not doubt that his aunt had asked housekeeping to leave it all most impeccable. The place had a large bed with white sheets and a blanket, a brown carpet, beautiful pictures of rivers and waterfalls scattered on the walls, mahogany closet with full length mirror, a door that led straight to the bathroom.

He already dying to take a shower. Then he remembered that he was not alone in the room. Tom was looking at the view from the window. The lights of the city next to the beach and beyond the sea. The Latin boy wondered if Tom had a similar view in his home, mansion... Or palace.

“Em, I'll take a shower.” Marco tried to eliminate the awkward silence that was in the room of both, “You can sleep now, I know that the trip must have been tired and perhaps our dimensions have some sort of time difference-”

“No problem.” The prince cut off his conversation.

Marco frowned at such apathy but not saying anything more he went into the bathroom and started to relax before sleep soundly.

The bathroom was much bigger than his. With a bathtub that could be confused with a kiddie pool and a sliding door with tempered glass. Marco always had a bag with all his hygienic stuff like his towels, his helmet, his toothbrush, and his rubber ducky. Once inside the bathtub, the hot water made him relax to a point where sleep in the water would be the most relaxing on this trip... If not for the new exchange student.

Tom was too listless since he had been admitted to living under his roof. Marco was a hundred percent sure that it was Star, and all their former courtship that did not end well. And he was more than sure that Tom saw him as a threat, but why? Why he was a friend of Star and was a man? He wasn't even in the least attracted to Star! She was the sister he would have wished to have. A little more wild and adventurous of what he thought but still! And besides Star likes someone else. Although when his father had said they both had to share a room he had not seen Tom refused to such a situation... Or could it be possible that the demon prince has accepted to haunt him? Nah. Maybe Tom has a bad temper but that didn't do him a psychopath.

Marco left the bathroom in his pajamas and noting that Tom was on his side of the bed. To be honest it wouldn't be the first time he had to share a bed with a man, after all in his childhood he used to do sleepovers with Alfonzo and Ferguson and often the three ended up sleeping in a bed, even though the other two brought their own sleeping bags.

Without making much noise and preparing for tomorrow - he had promised to take Star to the beach - He raised the bed sheets and lying on the soft mattress, back to back, Marco went to sleep.

“Starship still hate me?”

Tom's sudden question made Marco's dream disappear and leave him in a void, what he had to answer? “Star doesn't hate you,” Marco said, not being sure if Tom asked him directly or if the three-eyed boy had just sent off the question thinking that Marco was asleep, “But I think she was a little disappointed to see that you tried to link you to her through that red dancing.”

Tom let out a heavy sigh, “I just wanted to show her that I had changed but apparently nothing on me has worked. I must be the _worst_ kind of demon that has existed since the beginning of time.”

Marco frowned when he heard Tom feeling sorry for himself, was not supposed that the demons had pride? “Oh come on, man, I don't think you're the _most_ worst demon who ever lived-” Marco said as he sat on the bed, “Well, you tried to win back your ex-girlfriend as anyone else would-” Error, Tom was not _anyone_.

“And fail.” Tom completed the sentence.

Marco looked at the whole situation, “Could it be that... Are you infatuated with Star?”

“No!” Tom interrupted, “Star- She is one of the best and funniest people I've ever met, but our relationship did not end very well, partly because she is very impulsive and I- I have this stupid temper. I thought that if Brian helped me all would be- Well, perhaps return with Star or amend things with her.”

“So not only you need my help to control your anger, but also to help you get closer to Star.”

“Actually I _never_ said I needed your help to get closer back to Star.”

“Yes, but by the way things turned the last time Star is a little more attentive to every move you will.”

Tom took his palms to his face, rubbing his face, careful not to hurt his third eye, “I just want to make her understand that I will change. I want to be much better, much as a demon as a friend.”

That seemed like a good intention and Tom now didn't seem such a bad guy, “If you want to talk with Star then I'll help you. Star is one of my best friends and like you two will live with me until who knows when, it would be best to help you to get along again.”

Marco was always ready to help his friends, and now Tom was within his circle of friends, even if the devil didn't know but every guy who had lived in his house was a friend of his, he still corresponded with them. Besides Tom seemed to regard his help, even when he himself had said it was not so.

Eventually the demon nodded. “One more thing Marco,” Tom spoke before both boys slept once, the Latin boy looked at him, “How did you hear about how things went at the ball? Star told you?”

Welp, here was the question he had feared listen as Tom had presented this morning at the door of his house.

“ _It's a very funny story._ ”

⚜

There were many things that the Babcock family had been waiting for this day. Courtney came home after another hard semester in college, Norman would show his new segment of fictional terror, it would be a good family time, and that also included the ghost of the grandmother. But what was never on the agenda for the day it was to happen an earthquake, good luck was so slight and not so harmful, and as bad luck the television signal has fallen and therefore any channel TV could clearly see more than the gray rain. But the strongest surprise that they could receive today was to remember what happened a year ago.

They had just returned home when Perry had opened the door, Sandra and Courtney came in, he had the heaviest bags and therefore he was the last to enter the house, it was then that Norman asked to speak to three of them.

The almost thirteen years old boy felt a little embarrassed by the looks of confusion but decided to take courage and gather everyone in the family room where Agatha was _sitting_ on one of the sofas. His parents and Courtney felt even more confused by the pale-skinned girl.

“Mom, Dad, Courtney,” Norman began to speak, not quite sure how to explain this, and not quite sure how his parents would react, “Let me introduce to Agatha Prenderghast,” There was no other way, it was now or never, “ _The Witch._ ”

Norman had seen many things from an early age, most were visions that a young child should not have, and among them could recognize fear and confusion on the faces of his family. Norman felt Agatha near him, hiding behind him.

“Wow, wait a moment Norman,” Perry's hands went to his forehead, “What do you mean by ' _The Witch_ '? You mean the woman who was executed almost three hundred years ago?”

Norman glanced at Agatha, she tensed as his father spoke the word ' _execution_ ' “Yes, she is.”

“But Norman-” Sandra spoke up, “You defeated The Witch a year ago, we accompany you.” For Sandra it was impossible to believe that that spirit which had caused so much chaos in the town and who almost lynched her son is that trembling girl.

“I'm sorry for never explain Agatha's appearance, but she's here,” Norman took Agatha's hand, bringing her in front of him, “And although both of us _don't know_ how, Agatha has returned to our world.”

“Wait,” Courtney broke into the conversation, “It is not supposed that she- Uh- Is a ghost? How is it that we can see her?”

“That's something I should investigate.”

“Investigate?” Perry asked, “Norman this seems far beyond our understanding.”

“Perry.” Sandra slightly scolded her husband.

“If she is a ghost and we can see her how is it that I don't see my Mom?”

“Oh, you talk about the funny lady in a pink suit?” Agatha said, few moments ago there was an elderly lady sitting next to them, she felt more relieved to see her.

Norman realized that Agatha could still see ghosts, therefore also must have her old powers back, though he was pretty sure Agatha didn't want them.

Mr. and Mrs. Babcock looked at the pale-skinned girl and then the empty sofa, this girl really was _T_ _he_ _W_ _itch_? A feeling of fear and anger filled them both. _Does the town_ _had dared to kill a child?_ Sandra took her hands to her mouth.

“What is she doing here?” Courtney asked, trying to make her parents forget whatever they are thinking, but it certainly was a terrible thing for the expressions they had.

“Still, we don't know. We plan to investigate this. But for the moment I would like to ask something.”

“What could be, Norman?” His mother asked, as nice as possible.

He took a firm stance, he must show no doubt, “I want Agatha to stay with us.” Norman asked, “Although I know that the townspeople don't know her, she is not purely human, not to mention that she _only floats in the air._ ”

Actually, it is true. Until then his family had noticed that her feet not touch the floor, even when trying to sit her.

“For me no problem.” Courtney support her brother, “I always wanted a sister.” Courtney winked at both children, Norman felt safer now that he had his sister on his side. Both young Babcock and almost invited, looked at the father and mother.

“I think I do too.” Perry finally said, crossing his arms. Norman smiled, though his father wanted to pretend to be strong and Agatha was or wasn't a ghost, the older man couldn't leave a child alone in the street.

Sandra nodded, “By being a majority of votes I can not refuse.” She walked to her children, “Agatha, welcome, make yourself at home.”

Agatha nodded, a slight blush painted her pale cheeks, and pronouncing a soft " _T_ _hanks._ "

Mrs. Babcock decided to move everyone into the kitchen, arguing that with this crazy day everyone had lived, surely their stomachs were asking for something to eat and relax. So they all took their places at the small table, including the ghost of the grandmother, although she couldn't be seen they always put a chair for her.

Norman brought another chair for Agatha, at least the girl could pretend _sit_. Norman had to teach her to walk again if for any case they had to go outside of his house. He must also tell this to Neil as far his friend returned from vacation.

Sandra brought with chicken that he had forgotten on the stove, preparing the pieces that she knew which were the favorite of his family. She asked to Agatha what piece of chicken she wanted to eat, Agatha replied that any part was fine, after all she had discovered she could still eat and enjoy the taste. The dinner went almost normally. Almost always these kinds of dinners was for Courtney and how had been her semester in college, the young woman commented excited how well she had passed, the friends she had made, and some new designs that she wanted to try once the new semester will start.

Norman rolled his eyes, this was the same thing he heard every time, the child medium began to pay more attention to the food, sidelong he saw his family commenting and even Agatha seemed interested in what Courtney spoke. Norman wondered how her life would have been if she had never shown her powers.

The dinner ended and all retired to their rooms, his mother asked Norman and Agatha brushing their teeth, before asking the boy to seek a toothbrush for the girl. Courtney asked them to hurry up because she wanted to take a shower before going to bed, also saying she could share a room with Agatha.

Agatha seemed to remember how to use some things, like using a toothbrush, ( _History was never his favorite subject_ ) she even smiled when Norman imitated a zombie. After finishing brushing teeth, Norman led her to Courtney's room before had to check if Agatha could sleep lying or if she floated, the second theory confirmed to be true, and about her clothes that would be a matter that he was not going to play.

Once Norman made sure that Agatha had everything to sleep - Courtney would know what to do with Agatha's clothes and sleeping form - he decided to leave the girl alone and go to his room.

“Norman-” Agatha called the boy before she was alone.

Norman turned back, “Yes?” Norman was surprised as Agatha caught him in a hug.

“Thank you.” Agatha said, no in a whisper, if not as hard to be heard.

They parted as Courtney entered her room and sent to Norman to his, closing the door and leaving him standing.

The boy went to his room, sitting on his bed, burying his face in his palms. Finally he was in his room, where he could be himself... He had promised to Agatha help her.

“ _What will I do?_ ”

❅

“ _Is this our new home?” The girl asked, a little disappointed._

“ _It's better than nothing, my honey.” Her mother spoke lovingly, gently touching the older twin's chin._

“Malena _,” Her father spoke, carrying a box with a label saying '_ Paint Cans _' “Could you go for Elena? She refuses to get off the car.” Her father moved away from her, climbing the stairs and disappearing into the entrance of the strange and quirky pink mansion._

_Malena turned on her heels, looking toward the Cadillac, specifically in the small figure sitting in the rear seats. Malena sighed and took the handle of the car door and opened it, revealing another girl._

“ _We should go see our rooms.” Malena suggested to her younger twin._

_The smallest girl sniffed, “I want to return to Orlando.”_

_Malena looked toward the pink mansion and got into the car, sitting next to her sister, “_ Elena _, Dad's work will be much better here.” She tried to convince her sister._

“ _But it's not the same.”_

“ _I know it's not the same, and take a long time before we can get used to. But we are all together and that's what matters.”_

_Elena looked up, looking hopefully at her sister. “Are we okay if we're together?”_

“ _Stay with me and everything will be easier.”_

_Malena extended her hand to Elena, she accepted without hesitation, after all her twin is her best friend and if she said everything would be fine, everything would be fine._

_The house, once both toured the place, was not so bad. If they imagined harder the mansion became a pink palace and they were princesses living a fairy tale. With so many rooms anywhere it was perfect for them. Except for the living room where a small door was. There was nothing on the other side, just a wall of bricks. Her mother said maybe before being sold the former owners had sealed. Elena forgot the matter, but Malena did not._

_With the Second War their parents always sent their daughters to play outside the house, they did their best so that they saw nothing of war, they didn't want their daughters to live with fear as everyone was doing._

_Malena and Elena had great hours of fun in the backyard of the house, large enough to plant flowers and imagine that they were in a Enchanted Forest. They not walked away beyond their home, maybe they went to the town but almost always accompanied by their parents. Sometimes Elena seemed to see a pair of blue eyes lurking in the branches of the trees near her room and in the evenings was a black silhouette walking on the railing of her room. Elena covered her face with blankets and prayed wanting to fall asleep and not think about it._

_Few weeks, one day they had been playing outside the Pink Palace - as they now called their new home - had started to rain so they had no choice but to return home, her mother seeing them sent them to take a shower. Malena came to bathe first, then followed Elena._

_When Elena left the bathroom and went to her room Malena had her back to her, in her hands was a curious doll with blue and short hair, with buttons instead of eyes, she was of cloth and cotton. Malena quickly loved her, Elena liked her but she was afraid. Who had left the doll on Malena's bed? Both girls thought that perhaps their father, however there was no a gift for Elena, and if one of the girls received a gift from their parents, also had a gift for the other girl._

_However with time, and since the arrival of the doll Malena had begun to behave differently. That doll was everything to her. Elena swear that one day she heard her twin talk with the doll about that magnificent snack she had bitten the night before- Which was odd since her mother had not prepared any snack._

_Soon, Elena was left aside for that doll. Malena no longer talked to her, she didn't want to go out and play, all that mattered was her doll and that the night will come. Elena tried to talk to her, tried to do something because that terrible feeling did not disappear. And one day just all happened so fast that even the police had any idea of what had happened._ Malena had disappeared.

_Elena cried throughout that night and the following. Neither her twin and not the doll were not. The oddest thing was how she had disappeared. It was at night when they slept. It was a quiet and peaceful village. Everyone know each other, they are nice people. Had problems but had never heard of the kidnapping of a child in their own home. And in the middle of the night._

_The days passed and her parents were beginning to lose hope of ever seeing Malena, there was not a hint, not a ransom call, there was nothing, it was as if their daughter had vanished off the face of the earth._

_In the night Elena lay awake, waiting for her sister return, always waiting sitting on the balcony, she must be careful or her mother would scold her and saying that she would catch a cold by being out of bed. That night it was very different, and Elena finally understood._ Her sister would not return.

“ _Say it.” She told herself. “Just say it. Convince me.” Bitter tears fell from her black eyes, “Say it. Malena will not return.”_

“ _Meow.”_

When the old woman of eighty finished telling a tiny part of her life, the room was silent.

Coraline listened attentively to Wybie's grandmother story- Elena Lovat's past.

“I- God, I don't know what to tell you.” Coraline broke the silence, stunned by the sad story.

“I'm sorry about what happened to you grandmother.” Wybie scratched the back of his neck, “We should have told you the truth on that occasion.”

On that occasion when Coraline, for first time spoke with Mrs. Lovat, she didn't have the heart to tell her that she had been helped by her dead sister, by Malena, and that she had freed her soul and the other children's who had been captured by The Other Mother. So she just made up a story about what had happened with the doll. Maybe if she had said something else that day, this would not be happening.

“My dear Wyburn, that's in the past now.” Elena patted The Cat's head, who was now lying on her lap.

Coraline remembered what she had to do, “Mrs. Lovat, you said I'm not the first to face The Other Mother.”

“ _The Beldam_ , that's her name. A grotesque creature that feeds on children.” Elena explained, “The Cat explained to me what had happened to my sister, he told me that he had tried to persuade her never return to her dimension. And yet Malena decided to ignore his warnings.”

Coraline shivered. Thank God The Cat was very patient and persistent with her.

“However,” The Cat spoke, noting his participation in this little meeting, Wybie trembled at his feline friend talking, “The door which had been sealed by Coraline has been broken by this earthquake.” The Cat got on all fours and walked around the furniture, “This earthquake was not like any other.”

“What do you mean?” Coraline asked.

“This earthquake, the energy I felt was dangerous and powerful. Earthquakes are usually only caused by nature, but this had a magical origin, as if it had been provoked.” Although he didn't know for sure if it was caused intentionally or was an accident, the last time he felt a particularly equal energy to this was last summer but didn't last long and quickly vanished. “It was possible that even in her Other World, The Beldam managed to feel it and she forced a break from the inside on the other side of the door.”

“Wow, wait,” Wybie stood up from his seat, “All this stuff about dimensions, magic, and those things are too much for me. I'll go to eat something.” The boy walked to the kitchen, which was actually in front of them so when Wybie sat with a bowl of cereal in his hands, he was still watching his grandmother, his friend and his talking cat.

“Wyburn I know this is too much for you, I also had this problem.” Elena stared at her grandson and then The Cat, “I went once to The Other World, but I didn't get far because of The Cat. Time enough for him to tell me everything and The Other Mother, as you call her, will not find me.”

“I see. You keep my mini-me, why?”

“Sadly, it was all that was left of my sister and months after she disappeared and I found out the truth, the doll appeared again.” Elena sighed distressed, “For a moment the hope of seeing my sister appeared but I realized that The Beldam wanted to lure me too, so I just kept it hidden from everyone... That is until a young man gave it as a gift to a pretty girl”

“Hey!” Wybie shouted from the kitchen, with his mouth full of food, “They were identical.”

Elena laughed, taking her wrinkled hand to her lips, “That's something that worried me.”

“What thing?”

“That doll was like you, when you hadn't been born eighty years ago.” The Cat spoke again, “Something tells me that she _had_ the ability to see the future, or at least certain dimensions. That doll was like a link between her and the worlds. And as the doll was destroyed she was left without any connection between worlds. So as soon as she felt this explosion of magic, The Other Mother took the opportunity to enter.”

“Could you speak more clearly?” Wybie asked, this anxiety made him feel hungrier.

“Clearer can not be Wyburn,” Coraline mocked her friend, “The Other Mother'll tried to enter our world, now that the door is broken.” The blue-haired girl saw Wyburn began to eat faster, “Cat, is there any way to stop her coming to our world?”

The Cat, much to their disappointment, denied shaking his head, “I am afraid to say that once she enters shall be no a way returning her where she came from.”

“Although-” Elena asked to speak, “If we work together we can defeat her.”

“I already defeated her in The Other World.”

“Under the rules of a game in her world but here we are in our world, that gives us an advantage, we know our land, she knows it only for what she has seen through the eyes of the doll.” Elena continued. “We can not return her to her world, but we can defeat her in ours.”

“ _Coraline!_ ”

Heck! Her parents must have been very concerned with this that just happened. _And I still do_ _n'_ _t tell my near-death experience with a witch from another dimension_ , Coraline thought to herself. “I'm with The Lovat's, Mom!” Coraline shouted from the first apartment, “Mrs. Lovat sorry, I have to go. Cat.” She called the feline who ran to her to settle on her shoulder.

“Coraline.” Elena called the girl before leaving, “We can do it.”

Coraline nodded and left the apartment, as she descended the stairs Coraline asked The Cat wouldn't do any noise or speak until they were alone. She had to seriously consider this situation and The Cat was the help she needed now.

When Coraline finally saw her mother and before even could say anything Mel and Charlie had trapped her in a tight hug, as if afraid that just let her go something bad could happen to her. Mel explained that they were in the publishing of books when the earthquake occurred, computers stopped and cellular signals were horrible - so if she wanted to call her father she would have no result - then the first thing they thought was Coraline. Thank goodness there was no damage but the television signal had fallen so she seemed to follow in her infinite punishment of two weeks. Charlie handed her cell phone back, they would make this exception for this terrible situation. Coraline, anyway, couldn't use it because if the signal was terrible, so was the Internet.

Her mother asked to go to wash her hands, this time she would prepare the food. Coraline internally thanked for that.

When she was walking down the hallway leading upstairs, Coraline heard as if someone started to scratch the concrete wall. The girl quickly turned to face the small door in the wall, and running she took her father's couch and dragged it until it was against the wall and the door. If only in this way she could contain The Other Mother.

Coraline felt a cold sweat, she put her arm over her forehead, removing the sweat that did not exist.

“ _Why?_ ”

* * *

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will start to explain the reason why it took me to update it. Well, the first reason I do not have beta for this story, and do not want push my other beta with a second story, both of us have a lot of work now, she is helping me with 'CBTM', so I would like to know if any of you wants to be my beta for this story. The second reason is that I change college and with new subjects obviously I have a little more work, besides the week of dead is approaching to my town and my family will be very busy, then there will be more parties and my exams will be close, plus it may not update any of my two long-fics until January, however I have planned a one-shot for Halloween, is OTGW.
> 
> Another news is that I am writing two new fanfics. The first is about pirates, with OTGW x GF, and the second is with Dragons, GF x OTGW x SU x SVTFOE, possibly both published in March or April of next year so I hope to see you in my next projects.
> 
> About the codes that I have set, if you already discovered this code then you will have noticed that also are funny, some are foreshadowing.
> 
> I have many ideas for this story and can also leave some ideas or suggestions (here or my tumblr), you can always ask all your questions, perhaps even encourage me to give spoilers, bitty bitty, but may be important ;) If you want a spoiler for the end of this story is a wedding... Guess who's the wedding.
> 
> This fanfic will have three or four arcs, all starting with a new summer. When I thought about this story came to my mind all current cartoons, you know, the first few seasons everything is sweetness, adventures, etc. and the latest are battles and anguish, yes, that's spoiler xD Just call me Miss Spoilers... Forget it is a terrible nickname OTL
> 
> Another thing I want to share at the end of each chapter, if I can, are the deleted scenes or Omakes (as in the animes :3) An example is the following scene:
> 
> Ford: That doesn't matter now Bill, I want you out of my house and away from my family!  
> Bill: * Crosses his arms * I have your notebook.  
> Ford: ...  
> Ford: Welcome!
> 
> Obviously it was withdrawn because a certain author of six fingers does not suit reveal embarrassing things.
> 
> And I think that is all that I have to say, I told you~ are a lot of things, thank you very much for reading, leave a comment, a kudo or have bookmaked this story.
> 
> Bye-Bye!
> 
> P.S: Kudo extra if you know where I got the 'sleep in the same bed' trope (it's from a sport anime)
> 
> You can always contact me on Tumblr: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also some of my future stories: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/My-Fanfics)


	4. Keep The Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who has updated this story again. That's right! It's me! And you are asking yourself, why did you update three stories? Well, it's my birthday, dudes, and I thought it would be a good way to celebrate... I have no idea when I can do this again... 
> 
> My new semester is about to start next week so I just want to leave something for you to remember. I'm not dead, but pretend I am.
> 
> By the way, I have a beta for this story, [SpookyBaka](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyBaka), yeah! She has been helping me correct my horrible mistakes in future chapters, I could not do it without her hard work and effort, thank you. So let's go to start reading this chapter!
> 
> Update: August/13/2017

_I cannot accept this world but it looks_

_L ike rejecting it only makes my anger_

_R ebound but I will wake up one day if_

_T his is all in my head and even if I_

_S till lose I know that I am still alive._

_~ After Dark cover and lyrics by[DaaroVA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQkoQNkfZU) original by Asian Kung-Fu Generation ~ _

❅

“Done.” Coraline ran her arm over her forehead, watching the wall of the room once again be covered with cement.

As each day, she prepared a different mixture of cement to repair the crack in the door, hoping to prevent the crack from eventually opening again. It was as if The Other Mother was pressing the wall to want to go out and conquer this side of the world. Coraline knew that just some cement wouldn’t serve to stop the Other Mother. She was fighting magic with the ordinary.

Coraline watched as a small crack began to form back on the newly added cement layer.

“Agh!” She grunted, wanting to kick it, but restraining herself in fear of doing much greater damage to the already fragile wall. “I give up, it’s impossible to contain it this way. I will not spend the rest of my life covering this wall with concrete.”

“What will happen when you die?” The Cat asked, jumping from the sofa in the living room to his side.

They only had moments to repair the wall when her parents had to leave for the book publishing.

“I don’t know.” Coraline sighed, staring at the door to the other dimension, “But I know I don’t want to leave this unfinished.”

Coraline rose from the living room floor and moved the sofa to cover the door, hoping it would continue to put the same pressure against the wall. She and The Cat went up the stairs to her room, she had to wash the parts where her clothes had been splashed with cement or her mother would find it suspicious.

Sitting on her bed she took the notebook that was on her bedside table. She reviewed every piece of information she had researched about The Beldam and until now the Internet hadn’t helped much, some websites that weren’t even in English.

She had found that Beldam carried some similar definitions to Old Woman, or Witch - one of the ghost girls had called her as such - but that was better known in Europe and she was in Oregon, so possibly The Other Mother had access to others parts of the world that, perhaps, were closing or disappearing and the only available entry was this door.

Coraline had thought of possible exorcism sessions, although, if she did so, her parents could come in at any time and question what she was doing. If she was going to do it, it must have been one day that her parents were away for most of the day, so she would be able to start early and hopefully finish in the evening, and that only if she succeeded. She didn’t know any more ways to exterminate demons.

The Cat jumped to her bed, lying beside her and letting Coraline caress his head. The girl was obviously afraid of having to face The Beldam for a second time, and only the thought of that witch still being in the same shape as they had left her when escaping themselves made it so that Coraline wouldn’t get some decent shut-eye for a while.

“It’ll be easy. The moment she decides to show her head I’ll cut it off with an ax.”

“Then you’d have to fight against two,” The Cat answered. “Even after her hand had parted from her it kept moving on its own.”

“It was then that Wybie helped me to destroy it, next to the key.” Coraline remembered that night, “the rock and the well took care of both. In case she leaves we should destroy her in parts. Possibly. Even though I’ve grown a few inches I’m still afraid to see her.” The Other Mother’s emaciated face tormented her for many nights after her dangerous adventure.

“I can assure you that we will help you.”

Coraline smiled and looked at The Cat. “ _You_ never told me why you could go between both worlds.” According to Wybie’s grandmother, Mrs. Lovat had known The Cat since she had been a child and his appearance never changed, which made her suspect that The Cat wasn’t a simple animal with supernatural powers.

The Cat rested his head on his front legs, “There are things that one prefers to _keep_ _secret_ , Coraline. When the day comes I may tell you.”

Coraline nodded and decided to keep looking for information on witches, Beldam and exorcism. She wouldn’t give up until she found a way that the crack would close, before it was too late.

⚜

“Let me understand what you are asking for.” Alvin looked directly at Norman, “You want me to create metal shoes?”

“Yes.” Norman felt like he had tumbled back into the past, the days when he was bullied. No matter if he was friends with the school bully _now_ , he still felt self-conscious.

“Just because my appearance screams that I’m good at blacksmithing doesn’t mean I have time for this kind of thing.”

“Then you won’t do it?”

“What? _Of course_! It's a perfect excuse to get into my dad's workshop. When will you need those shoes?” Alvin pulled a small notebook out of his back pocket.

“If possible, before the end of the month. Don’t make it too heavy, it shouldn’t make too much noise, and try to make them look like a normal pair of shoes.”

“Not so heavy, quiet, and a relatively normal appearance.” Alvin wrote every feature that Norman asked him to do, “Something else?”

“That would be all.”

“Hey Babcock, I haven’t even told you the price yet.”

“Uh, can I pay you when summer is over?”

“No.” Alvin folded his arms and leaned against the door frame of his house.

Norman rolled his eyes, “What do you want?”

“A date with your sister,” Alvin answered without question.

Norman wanted to laugh. That would be impossible if he accepted without Courtney’s consent his sister would be able to skin him alive and put her skin on him and send him to that date. “Uh I don’t think I can - ”

“Then I’ll have to keep your metal shoes for the whole summer.” Alvin closed his notebook and turned around threatening to enter his house.

“Wait,” Norman stopped him, he needed those shoes for his plan to succeed and that could _only_ do it if it was before this summer will end. “I don't promise anything, but I'll try to get you a date.”

“Deal, Babcock.” Alvin said and they both said their goodbyes.

His plan might not fail. But it was better to think of a possible backup plan either way. He would help Agatha to appear normal as long as she stayed in his house, which he thought would be too much due to his commitment to her to help her return to the hereafter. Agatha would live in his house, and in case they had visitors, she was a distant cousin who came to visit them for the summer. For that image to be realistic, she needed the metal shoes to keep her stuck to the floor. she was still floating like a ghost, and that got on his parents’ nerves very quickly.

And in case the summer was over and the plan still had no results, that's where the backup would come... Which he still needed some time to think about.

Norman finally arrived at his house, and sighed before opening the door.

“Welcome Norman,” his mother waved.

She was cleaning the room as his ghost grandmother watched TV. His father was probably at work and he would come around six o’clock in the afternoon.

“Where are Courtney and Agatha?”

“Both are in Courtney’s room.” His mother didn’t look up as she answered him.

Courtney hadn’t lied when she’d said she wanted a sister. Courtney had been treating Agatha as one of those many dolls she’d had when she was a child. Norman was glad to have been born a man, though Agatha didn’t seem to care. Perhaps because of her shyness she couldn’t object.

Norman opened the door to his sister’s room - he knew when he was allowed to enter and when not to Courtney’s room - Courtney was combing Agatha’s hair, the girl was floating in front of her at her height. Courtney had been talking about the possibility of making clothes for Agatha, and maybe have her as a model when she is about to finish her college career.

Agatha saw Norman and smiled as she floated toward her friend, Courtney made some muttered complaint about the now-ruined hairstyle. Norman only went to warn her that very soon she could put her feet on the ground again. The girl asked if Norman knew anything about how to return, he shook his head but asked her not to despair that very soon he would have something. Agatha nodded and return to Courtney’s side.

Norman left Courtney’s room, saying they might be able to watch a movie later (because Agatha still needed to understand the modern world and better than with horror and Sci-Fi films?).

His room was just as disastrous as a year ago, but with subtle differences. He had bought a new poster, which he had hung up a little while ago, and a new collection figure adorned his shelf. When was the last time he had cleaned his room?

“Well. Time to work.”

Norman went to his computer and began his search, googling every word that came to his mind about the afterlife. At the end of an hour he had only read of experiences of people who _supposedly_ came back to life, not without first knowing heaven or hell, supposedly. Several versions varied little, so Norman didn’t take it as information necessary for him, and that is how he had, after an even longer time, come to no conclusion.

Norman collapsed on his desk chair. What if he _didn’t_ find answers, and Agatha couldn’t return? Perhaps the best thing to say is that the plan would probably take longer than expected. Perhaps it was time Norman had to start thinking about that backup plan he had planned to make.

Perhaps he was looking at the problem from the wrong angle all along? “Think Norman, how was the last time you helped Agatha? It was guessing her past, the history of the town to be exact. That could do. Although that means I would need outside help.”

Norman had just slammed the door closed behind him in a fit of irritation as he saw Courtney and Agatha leaving Courtney’s room - Oh sure, _Movie Time_.

Running to the living room, he picked up the phone and pressed the numbers, waiting impatiently until finally he heard the voice he was expecting.

“Hello?”

“Saima, it's Norman. I have something that might interest you.”

▲

Of all the things he believed would never happen to him this summer, having released Bill Cipher was number one on the list. Followed by maybe losing his bet against Mabel and ending up drinking Mabel Juice listening to the triangular demon's laughter in the background.

But Dipper did it to see Mabel's smile, after the false news of being the vessel of Bill's powers was released between his relatives everything had gotten into a tense atmosphere as life went on. It was too much that even Ford couldn't stay in the Shack, despite his hatred for Bill, so he had made up the excuse of going out to visit McGucket at his new home.

Bill had his family right where he wanted them. Dipper couldn't bear to see his family as silent slaves that at the first threat against Bill the dream demon threatened the youngest in the family. Dipper was the only one who could stop Bill from hurting them... Even so, that's why this afternoon he had invited Mabel to play a board game she would win, betting a glass of Mabel Juice. Soos and Melody joined the board game, Stan even watched them from his seat on the couch (he hadn’t been very busy since the earthquake, as most of the roads were either blocked by rocks or police).

Obviously Dipper ended up losing, and had to drink the sugary caffeine concoction. The younger twin decided to ignore Bill's laughter and focus only on his family. Dipper smiled to see them laughing.

“That's a martyr complex by definition, kid” Bill said in his room.

Dipper would have wanted to ignore him, but the demon's magic lessons and universal knowledge were too interesting for his curiousity to overlook, even if that means hearing some of Bill's personal anecdotes.

“Abraham Lincoln was one of the few who refused to make a deal with me in return for being president. He preferred to go get those dentures of truth to convince his colleagues. Honest Abraham Lincoln.” Bill recounted another of his stories with the people he loved to deal with, world leaders.

Bill had had too much influence on world history, and apparently also in the universe, since he mentioned other dimensions in which he made greatly terrible achievements. The Earth dimension was his favorite to cause problems at, as organisms inhabiting his dimension were so behind compared to the evolution of other dimensions, and didn't take much importance to what happened here.

“If I had known I would end up in this hickey town I would have tried to take Trembley's body.”

Although Dipper wanted nothing more to keep practicing the telekinesis spell he’d just learned, he stopped reciting it and turned to see Bill, “You mean the Eighth and a Half President?” _God, no_. He had his theories and suspicions when he saw Bill's image on the $ -1 bill, but since he never saw Quentin again, Dipper never was able to validate any of them. “You made him go mad.”

“Pine Tree, I don't like it when you accuse me of something so true,” Bill put his hands on his side-angles – hips? he wasn't exactly sure what to call the gesture as Bill was a freaking triangle - “Your friend the President went crazy taking over a country that planned to kill him for his futuristic ideas and supernatural knowledge.” Bill closed his eye, crossing his arms, “but yes, I was the cherry on the cake. But without me he would never have discovered this place and I wouldn't have had so many deals.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dipper was curious, even even and with help the Journals and his friends he still hadn't been able to decipher all the secrets in Gravity Falls.

“Kid, do you think I'll give you all my secrets that easy? What do I get in return?”

“Maybe we and your stupid secret _both_ fall without having achieved anything,” Dipper countered.

Bill rolled his eye. After probably more than billions years of living, he had been challenged again, sometimes the thrill of a good fight made him shake with excitement. “Maybe I will reveal the most important thing for the town; something that has to do with your friend Llama.”

‘ _With Pacifica?’_ Dipper thought. Although she wasn’t a friend of Dipper, and he had already opened his mouth to correct that mistake, Bill spoke first.

“As you might have discovered on Pioneer's Day, the legitimate founder of the town is Trembley, but how did a whole society decide to cover that fact by putting the hillbilly in that mansion? _A clue_?” Bill coughed and pointed to himself. “Nathaniel's family was so ashamed of his work that they made a deal with me to elevate them to the highest position in the village hierarchy. In exchange for their family to worship me.”

Dipper listened intently, everything seeming to make sense. In that room when Pacifica told him about the dark and evil secrets of her ancestors Dipper was surprised that The Northwest had spent too much money trying to cover the spilled blood, Of course those must have been dealings with Bill Cipher.

“After a while the deal was forgotten by them,” Bill went on talking, “That's why I decided to take revenge on Preston with that joke.”

“Dipper!” Mabel threw open the door, as she spotted Bill, her smile seemed to flank but she appeared to have decided to ignore the demon’s presence for now. “Let's go to the town,” she proposed. “We've been in Gravity Falls for days and we haven't been able to see Candy and Grenda. We didn't even have a welcome party.”

 _Oh_ , Dipper blinked in realization, _that’s right_ . They _had_ been for almost a full week in Gravity Falls and the only people coming to the Shack were Melody and Wendy- though Dipper could blame no one for being afraid of leaving the house after that earthquake.

The news had come the next day, broadcasted on all TV channels - Unfortunately after Soos failed to compose the television signal Ford was forced to use his old and (-by Dipper’s standards- questionably) reliable radio. The earthquake had been the worst of all, not just in Oregon, it had happened all over the planet.

The earthquake, despite having been of great magnitude, hadn't caused catastrophes as they had thought. Scientists and experts could find no explanation for this strange and mysterious event, Dipper knew little about plate tectonics, and even he could understand it wasn’t supposed to be possible. However, even though no natural catastrophes had occurred, the earthquake brought much social chaos into the masses, as many people had mistaken this natural phenomenon with some sign of the End of the World-apocalypse – the uproar had yet to fade.

No – Dipper knew this was an _interdimensional_ issue. He had believed that the earthquake – that had been caused by the liberation of Bill – had affected only Gravity Falls and the towns in the adjacent area. It wasn’t until the following morning, when the telephone signal seemed to be restored and they received a call from their parents, that they learned everything and hurried to try to find a television broadcast signal.

“Dipper?” Mabel snapped her fingers in front of her twin. Lately Dipper had been spacing out a lot. It was normal for her to see her brother so deeply focused on some subject of his interest, however since Bill had moved with them she hadn’t at all hesitated to never having to leave her brother alone with the demon.

Her brother finally reacted again. Dipper was a bit dubious about going to town, but they both knew it was better to go to find out if something had changed. And, as no one had gone to seek help from the Pines for something extremely urgent then there probably weren’t be a lot of problems anyway.

Dipper nodded and Mabel jumped out of the excitement. The female twin ran out of the attic to tell Grunkle Stan that they would visit the town for a little while.

Dipper kept his Journal in his vest, heading for the door to reach his sister, but not before turning to see Bill. The triangle seemed to be quietly reading some books Dipper had brought from Piedmont.

“Don't do anything weird,” Dipper warned before leaving the attic.

“I can’t promise you anything,” Bill replied.

Dipper decided he wouldn’t fight Bill. He would try to do things as normally and ordinarily as possible. He wasn't going to think about the fact that he'd left Bill Cipher alone in his room... _Oh God, this is not going to work_ , Dipper face palmed.

Mabel and Dipper left the Shack promising to return before dark. Stan just asked them to buy milk and toothpaste, Soos and Wendy wished them luck.

The twins walked away under the watchful eye of the All-Seeing Eye. As they had vanished from his view, Bill returned to the center of the room, focused. His nature was always chaotic, but being an immortal being, patience was surprisingly one of his attributes - He had waited an eternity to take over the Multiverse, after all.

Bill summons his cerulean fire. The blaze shone, enveloping the room in a strong celestial glow – Bill flinched at a momentary flashback of his defeat in Stan’s mindscape – and fire rose higher until the flames licked the ceiling. However, Bill observed that none of these flames burned anything of the room, Shooting Star's and Pine Tree's belongings stayed intact.

The fire swirled around Bill and disappeared leaving the room as it was, as if nothing unusual had ever happened.

Bill sighed, and decided he still needed to keep experimenting. “ _Just like old times._ ”

Gravity Falls was still standing. Sure, Wendy had told them that on the day of the earthquake people looked up expecting to see the skies being broken by a crimson X, and turning bloody. Gravity Falls was still the same people with forgetful people after a disaster. Dipper must have known this time would be no different.

“Mabel!”

Dipper recognized Grenda's thick foghorn of a voice, followed by Candy's nasal and thin squeak. The girls ran towards them, first attacking Mabel behind him, and then pulling Dipper into the hug as well. Dipper’s bones cracked as he felt himself being lifted a few inches from the concrete. Behind Candy and Grenda was Pacifica, but the blonde only greeted them from afar.

If Dipper still had some resentment against Pacifica, he wouldn’t have hesitated to reveal the whole truth about where her money came from. But the blonde had proven to be different from her family, as Mabel had said, she was a normal girl like them now and after his early days Dipper had heard that Pacifica's maternal family had decided to take her father and mother to live with them again in luxuries, her maternal grandfather was another rich man of business, instead Pacifica refused to want to leave Gravity Falls, and now she lived in what had once been her old house next to McGucket, whom she helped keep the mansion standing.

Mabel approached Pacifica, commenting on the cute clothes she wore. Pacifica may no longer be wearing branded or reputed clothing, but the clothes that Grenda and Candy took her to buy in her first week of high school - Preston would no longer pay the expensive school so Pacifica begin her sophomore year in Gravity Falls High School - were prettier and perhaps a much better fit than her old clothes as well.

Dipper heard the same story that Mabel had told since they arrived to almost everyone. To Dale the bus driver, The Stan's, Soos, Melody, Abuelita, Wendy, the few tourists, etc. And obviously Dipper had to intervene when they reached the part of his disastrous date, (“ _I had no idea she was allergic to strawberries._ ” “ _You didn’t bother paying any attention to me._ ”)

Mabel was excited to have seen her friends again, and also to Pacifica, it was very different from the feeling she felt with them in Gravity Falls than when she was in Piedmont with her other friends. Even when she wanted to tell everything there were things she had to keep to herself such as Bill Cipher's return, Dipper being a vessel and even though she knew they would say nothing to anyone, the mere thought of what could happen with Dipper it made her sad.

Mabel felt Dipper squeeze her hand, interlacing their fingers. Just reminding her that she wasn't the only one who was worried. Dipper smiled a little as the brightness returned to Mabel's eyes. It was his fault that Mabel couldn't have a quiet, mysterious summer as he had promised.

His cell phone began to vibrate, rarely did anyone call, and if someone did, it would almost always turn out to be their parents. As Dipper held out the phone, he didn’t recognize the number displayed on the screen.

Doubtful, he took the call, “Hello?”

" _Dipper?_ ”

“Great Uncle Ford?” It was his Great Uncle, the old man had left early to McGucket's mansion.

“ _Oh thanks to Einstein's brain, I'm calling from Fiddleford's house,_ ” Ford explained, “I _need you and Mabel come. It’s urgent._ ”

At the alarming tone in Ford’s voice, Dipper straightened in warning. He worried that something horrible might have happened in the mansion, so he nodded and hung his cell to get his sister and go to McGucket's house, desperately hoping it wouldn’t be too late.

✯

Some Supreme Being must be against the plans because they never work out as one would want.

Of course Marco had promised to take Star to the beach and visit the sea, but he should have foreseen that due to the earthquake from last week the beach would be closed to the public until further notice. That had put Star in a bad mood since seeing the calm ocean from far away was neither what she had expected nor wanted, compared to the bustling ocean of Mewni.

Though his other plan to help Tom to talk to Star hadn’t worked out very well either. And not even being at Auntie Itatí's had helped him feel comfortable however, Marco took advantage of this week to introduce Tom and Star to his family, mostly to his cousins.

Marco was the fourth cousin in the family, his three older cousins were Joaquin and Lucia, both siblings and who were already graduates of the University, then followed his cousin Antonio, a year older than him, his sister Maria was two years younger than Marco, followed by Juan, Luis and Augusto, brothers with two years of difference and finally were Matilda, who was Juan’s age, her siblings Patricia, six years old, and Daniel, only seven months old.

Star and Tom quickly became the babysitter of the youngest children and Marco enjoyed watching his friends suffer from Luis’ and Augustus’ pranks. Luckily the cute Marshmallow was treated more carefully by his cousins, the pink rabbit ended more jumpy after the whole family had pet him. Nonetheless, he had to confiscate Star’s wand before she could do magic or have to use water sprinkler against Tom and prevent an attack of anger. Marco knew his cousins well enough, and the moment they would discover that Star and Tom were royalty and from another magical world wouldn’t hesitate for a second to want to go to Mewni or the Underworld, which would be a terrible idea – not to mention neither royal parent was supposed to know that they had multidimensional scissors. Star and Tom seemed to be babysitters of their cousins, but Marco was definitely a babysitter to both the prince and princess. It was at this cruel moment he had to admit that this would be his life for an indefinite time.

And finally the evening came and after a hard day, Star had needed help to look for her horned diadem before one of his aunts discovers that they _aren’t_ precisely plastic.

The sun fell on the ocean, Star asked if it was necessary that the ocean had to eat the sun. Even though she had been living on Earth for many months she still had trouble understanding non-magical logic.

Oddly enough, Tom looked more relaxed in the light of the sunset, perhaps because all the red, orange, and yellow tones in the sky reminded him of his home. Marco could understand why, he knew Star sometimes felt melancholic about Mewni (even though she appeared as the most happy-go-lucky gal). There was always something hiding deeper in people, maybe there was more than just anger inside Tom as well like the joy that Star overflowed every day.

“It feels like home,” Marco surprised Tom. He’d brought two glasses of orange juice that his Aunt Mariana had served, and shook Tom out of his trance.

“I think this is one of the few things that dimensions have in common,” Tom took the glass of orange juice that Marco offered.

After that talk in bed, he would think of another way to call it, Marco had thought that Tom would burn him as soon as he finished telling him the truth about who was the mysterious masked mariachi who had stolen his dance with Star, however Tom only had said he’d been suspicious when they were thawing him since Marco seemed to be the only human person with whom Starship hang out. The Latino boy had felt relief after confessing that; at least Tom had told him that he had already taken his revenge.

“However, you can rarely see the constellations and planets.” The three-eyed demon looked disappointed.

“It is not as if all our planets were only a few miles from us as in Mewni.” Marco explained, “If we were so close, gravity could make them repel or approach each other and it would be a catastrophe.” Star had already told him about her solar system and now understood at last that nothing could be completely normal or human in Mewni.

Tom laughed, “ _Yep, like in the old days_.”

Marco raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “When do you want to start with my help for your anger control?”

Tom shrugged, “When you think possible. If you want to enjoy your vacation you can do it, sorry to have interrupted it anyway.”

“Okay, at least I can enjoy them on Earth than in the Underworld.”

“Is _anything_ wrong with my home?”

 _Damn it_ , “No!” Marco hurried to correct himself, “I don’t mean that in a bad way, I’m sorry, but after Star has taken me to so many dimensions I think I prefer to be on my dearly familiar Earth.”

“Oh.” Tom sipped his orange juice, “I'm sorry for scaring you.”

“You don’t have to. I understand how you feel, I’d put myself in the same way if someone insulted my home.”

Tom said with a smile, “When I talked to Star during the Blood Moon Ball she told me about you being called the Safety Boy at school.”

“What?! No!” Marco yelled offended. _Safety Boy_? After all those _risky_ adventures with Star and her strange friends? _Oh hell no._

“Marco!” Star appeared in front of both boys causing them both to fall backwards. Fortunately the juice glasses were plastic, but the juice still spilled.

“Star? How did you show up on that side? This is the terrace.”

“I just used my wand to make a gigantic rose - I will remove the magic later.” Star added when she saw Marco’s scolding look, “I need your help since I have an idea where my diadem is.”

“Really?” Marco stood up helping Tom, “Let’s not waste time then. Tom, are you coming with us?” He asked the demon prince.

“Uhm.” Tom saw between Marco and Star, “I will be here contemplating for a bit longer. If you need my help, I'll be here.”

Marco nodded and walked away with Star into the house.

The Underworld prince took one last look at the human boy and the princess of Mewni and then turned back to the sun set. After a while, he sighed deeply, and looked down, just in time to watch the rose begin to wither.

“Keh, _how odd_.”

♚

“ _The earthquake on Saturday at 2:45 pm is still causing fear and rumors -_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _Despite having broken the Richter scale, seismologists try to come to a conclusion because there were no major disasters -_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _I do not know exactly... I hit my head but I can tell that I saw lights in the sky before I fainted -_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _UN members have been in session for more than eighty hours trying to manage the social situation that the earthquake has caused -_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _Police try to prevent further looting continue -_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _It's the end of the world! Repent of your sins and join the Lord's will!_ ”

Bzzzt

“ _I want to believe that if there were no disasters it was a miracle... My house is fine, my children are safe -_ ”

The TV screen went black as Wirt pressed the On / Off button. Wirt massaged his temple, he hoped his mother wouldn't see him or she would say he was too young to have a migraine. Tomorrow would be a week and a half since that earthquake happened and brought many changes to the world and his life. Everyone talked and talked and _kept talking_ about the natural phenomenon. There was all sorts of things on social networks and the Internet, from memes to conspiracy theories.

But for Wirt, the truth was vastly different. It was also a week and a half since the most dangerous creature on the face of the Earth - And apparently of the dimension - had been living under his roof and acting as if he hadn’t tried to transform them into a tree. If it weren't for Greg asking him to stay, Wirt wouldn’t hesitate to seek a method to exorcise him, if that was possible.

Speaking of Greg from that day on Wirt kept watching over his younger brother, fearing that The Beast would try to harm him or use him as blackmail to him. It had already worked once but his brother was so childish that he didn't see the danger around him.

And not to mention The Beast, that creature made him too nervous, not to say paranoid. It was as if the story their parents used to tell about the monster in the attic had come true, and, well, fairy tales always carry some truth, but now their life seemed to be a horror tale. How long would The Beast stay at his home?

“Wirt!” His mother and brother shouted from the backyard.

The teenager got up from the couch, walking out of his house, but not before taking a quick look in the upstairs hallway. There was no one. Wirt was grateful that it was still daytime and the sunlight prevented The Beast from wanting to leave the attic. The nights bore his continuous torment, and just a lock did not give him the quietest night. If his parents were not allowed to enter his room, much less a demon like him could enter. Every night he would plan some excuse to watch over Greg, like they were supposed to do a marathon of movies or some board games every single night.

His mother was on the stairs pulling the old rope that held the swing tied to the tree branch.

“Wirt, could you help your brother fix the swing?” Minerva asked as soon as she saw the eldest of her children approaching them, “I have a very urgent call to attend but I’ll be back soon.”

Wirt nodded. Helping his mother down the stairs and taking the rope, Minerva entered the house, the boys heard a slight ‘ _bye._ ’ And then the door of the house being open and closed. Wirt turned his gaze to Greg, his young brother was excited to want to help, Wirt climbed the stairs, noticing that the branch was broken.

“Captain Wirt,” Greg said, “Sailor Funderberker has found a new port to land.” Greg pointed to one of the other branches of the other tree.

Wirt and Greg threw the rope over the branch, pulling tension into it, and tying it to the table that served as a seat. Wirt climbed the stairs and tied the rope to the branch.

“Done,” Wirt spoke. Nathan was in charge of arranging the swing for Greg, but since last Monday he and other journalists had to leave for the earthquake report; Nathan had said something about doing it _like in the old days_. Their stepfather wouldn’t be back until the day after tomorrow.

“Aren’t you going to swing?” Greg asked, sitting Jason on the swing and beginning to swing him. The frog didn't fall because of the careful manners of its owner.

Wirt shook his head, “I’ve got some messages to answer.” Since morning come, his cell phone kept ringing for the messages arriving every minute, most of them from Kathleen - Wirt had to apologize as he accidentally nearly dented her four-wheeler.

Wirt didn’t go too far from Greg, entering the kitchen and leaving the door open to watch his brother. Serving himself a glass of water and sitting in his chair, cell phone in hand, he opened his message tray. Outside Wirt listened to Greg laugh, his brother swung with Jason. The frog was on his lap, croaking and a slight gleam showed on his stomach every time the two swung forward. Greg was unique, Wirt thought, always so positive. Innocent to everything around -

“Feeling pity for yourself?”

Wirt dropped his cell phone and almost fell out of the chair at the sound of The Beast's voice. Wirt had forgotten, The Beast could leave the attic but only be inside the house at day, with the condition of not approaching his brother, without Wirt present.

“Jesus Christ! What are you doing here?” Wirt asked as he tried to stand up and check that his cell phone hadn't been broken. Wirt could feel his heart about to leave his chest, he tried to breathe to regulate his heartbeat.

Wirt had the misfortune that Greg wasn’t here. At least the boy's comments could lessen his anger and divert his attention away from The Beast. After living a week with the creature of Purgatory, his fear gradually began to turn into irritation. And by God, Wirt had a lot of fighting against that demon. Except that there was the detail. The Beast is a demon that can transform people into trees and that for more pain he still has that power.

“Your face expresses your emotions too well,” The Beast responded from the other side of the kitchen, where the light could not affect him.

Wirt bit his lower lip and decided to ignore him. Luckily his cell phone wasn't in pieces after the fall and his heart was pulsing the normal speed again. Wirt couldn't help but feel the look of the glaring colored rings on him. The intense look of The Beast pierced his body like two daggers and extracted all the emotion and happiness leaving him as an empty vessel.

Wirt answered his messages, including Sara's, which asked to go to a movie next . She’d felt the tension in the air, and wished to help him, which Wirt appreciated greatly. He would have accepted, if it wasn't for her suggestion of a midnight premiere, which meant he had to leave the house at night, and he was not yet insane enough to leave his family alone with The Beast. Somehow he felt like he was able to face this creature, even when he felt fear engulfing him like a hungry wolf.

While In pain as he had to refuse an invitation from his old crush, he declined and sent the last message. However he didn't get up from his seat. If he did, The Beast would surely invade his line of sight, and Wirt did not feel ready enough to confront that.

“Ignoring your guests?” The Beast spoke, folding his arms, “I thought you were more educated now. I feel bad about your lovely mother and kind stepfather. To raise a child like you must have been so difficult.”

Oh no. No. Wirt wasn't going to play the game of ‘ _Gettin' mad to become a tree_ ', but he wasn’t going to let The Beast tell his family off like that. It's not as if the demon had said any curses, but the tone made it obvious the comment was meant as a sneer.

“What can you know of families? As far as I know, you're just a lonely demon who likes to manipulate people to have them by your side.”

He could feel as The Beast moved behind him and slid to his left side, the teenager saw the wooden hands lay on the table, that way The Beast could see him, Wirt turned away.

“Haughty words. Your personality has changed dramatically since our last meeting. For what is this? The so-called _Emotional Maturity_? Deep inside you are still the same selfish child who wouldn't hesitate to abandon his half-brother to save himself. And you know it.”

Wirt finally got up from his seat. He wasn’t going to let The Beast express himself against him in this way. Wirt had finally left that stage of selfish child behind. He didn’t deny that in effect he had been too selfish and spiteful against Greg but that had changed, he wasn't going to let The Beast scoff at the most important person.

“Wirt! I had a new idea to improve the swing!” Greg entered the kitchen just as Wirt planned to shout a thing or two at the demon's face. Quickly he shut his mouth, and stared at Greg, who confusedly looked between the monotone demon and his brother’s upset face. “Did something happen?”

 _Yes, this ungrateful person searches any time of day to bother me with sarcasm and, which I will never admit, painful commentary._ “Nothing Greg.” Wirt facepalmed internally. It was always the same with him, keeping his feelings to himself. “Did you say anything about the swing?” Wirt decided to distract his brother from the situation in front of him.

“Oh yes!” Greg snapped his fingers once remembering that he was coming to talk to his older brother, “We have to tell Mom that we need propellers! We’ll tape it to the swing, so when the propellers come on we can make a full turn around the tree branch, just like the carnival a year ago, remember? You were so afraid of getting into the mechanical game that you - ”

Greg was quickly silenced by Wirt who rose from his seat. The last thing he needed was for Greg to reveal more embarrassing things about him so that The Beast could make fun of his misfortunes.

“That sounds like an interesting story, Gregory.”

The little boy nodded but tried to speak so he could say his confirmation, but his older brother's hands deprived him of it. Wirt hissed a quiet ‘shut up’ and to The Beast told him not to get into matters of him and his brother.

Wirt grimaced. It was much easier to stop Greg when the child was a toddler and still hadn’t learn to speak. As he released Greg, Wirt felt the intense look of The Beast upon them. What was so interesting? Had it not been for this supernatural journey to The Unknown Wirt could assure that there was nothing special about them.

Greg and Wirt sat down. The kid saw the demon still standing on the kitchen wall, “Will not you take a seat?”

“I don't think that’s to your brother’s liking,” The Beast said as he saw Wirt.

“Wirt, Mom has always told us to be good hosts.” Greg scolded his older brother, Wirt felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment and anger.

“Well I didn't consider it because The Beast is too big and heavy, he would break any and every of Mom's chairs, and you know how she is with her property.” No, he hadn’t taken into account the fact that The Beast was heavy, but who cares. Two can play the same game. Even when it is very unfair that one of the parties is a supernatural entity.

However, Greg didn't seem to care and invited The Beast to take a seat. Wirt took his chair and moved, wishing the chair would break. Miserably, he watched as The Beast sat down, and the chair didn’t so much as creak.

At least since that night Wirt had discovered that The Beast had no need for food, so at least there wouldn’t be a risk of having to hide food for the demon, only for his mother to see him and starting to suspect. However his morbid curiosity didn’t prevent him from trailing off to think about what The Beast could eat. Did he even devour people if he didn’t make them into Edelwoods or Bearers of his Dark Lantern? His appearance didn’t help Wirt much in formulating theories. Somewhere in his train of thought he came to remember a Wendigo, and those creatures were to eat each other to survive. Then that led him to more questions, was The Beast a single demon? Or was there more like him – physically speaking, that is.

There could be a million, more or equal worse than him and definitely Wirt wasn’t going to deal with that. Once The Beast finds his way back to The Unknown - Wirt lamented for his friends in there – Wirt will make sure not to let him return, if he came to something coherent about all this called _Multiverse._

Wirt finally snapped back into reality when he heard Greg jump up and down enthusiastically. The younger boy had continued talking about the idea of taping the propellers to the swing, meanwhile The Beast had been listening to him. Wirt could see that he was getting quite disgruntled. _Well, suffer what I suffer._

Perhaps Greg was one of the few people who could face The Beast without much effort. He had survived an encounter before, after all: Greg had fallen asleep because of hypothermia and fatigue, he’d only woken up thanks to him and revived by the help of the ambulances. What if Beatrice and that fish hadn’t rescued him?

The brothers and The Beast heard the front door open and then their mother’s voice warning that she was finally back. Wirt looked up in high alert, ready to hide The Beast from his mother, but when he turned around, The Beast was no longer in his place. Sighing in relief, he listened for clues where the demon had gone off to. When he heard a light slam in the room upstairs, he relaxed completely.

“Greg! You’re filthy!” their mother cried out as she entered the room.

“I was playing in the garden!” Greg whined. “Jason Funderberker wanted to swing.”

She shook her head in dismay. “Go take a shower, and get some clean clothes for dinner. Wirt, you should wash up too.”

Minerva started preparing dinner for herself and her two children, meanwhile she talked to Nathan on the phone. Wirt could hear them chatter from upstairs, not quite interested enough to eavesdrop. He did try to find any noise revealing The Beast’s location or goings-on, but heard nothing. Maybe that was for the better anyway, though Wirt couldn’t help but feel distrustful still.

The dinner was a delicious noodle soup, one of Greg’s favorites, and the boy didn’t take a second to order a second and third bowl, Wirt kept mocking him about his endless stomach, but Greg also used to joke with him about how the noodles seemed to be his arms, and Wirt would used them as whips. Both brothers laughed and even their mother joined in for a little while, but soon she asked that they behave and eat properly.

Once the dinner was over they were free to continue with whatever they wanted to do. Truthfully, lately Wirt felt very tired, however he wasn’t going to let his family alone and without his protection. Although Minerva told him that he could go to sleep without worry, she and Greg would watch some movies and then they would go to sleep.

Wirt wanted to put some excuses but in the end his mother managed to make him surrender. As he climbed the stairs Wirt saw his brother and mother. He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his hands and once out of the bathroom to enter his room, not before looking towards the door to the attic and hoping that once he entered the room the bolt will not begin to move. But it wasn’t like that, it remained intact.

With resignation Wirt entered his room, changed his pajamas and went to his bed to lie down and expect to sleep without fear of an attack. _Perhaps he would sleep better if he didn’t mock some demon and live with the fear that at some point he will take revenge on him_ . _It was enough negativity_ , Wirt thought and decided to sleep.

The night became deeper and deeper and finally almost everyone in the small town fell asleep.

The attic bolt began to move as The Beast went his way, passing by the door of the Young Lover’s room. The boy was so scared that at night he would haunt him, but The Beast that would never happen, he had better things to do than annoy a brat 24 hours and it wouldn’t matter if he was awake or asleep. The Beast came down the stairs of the house, that strange object was making a lot of noise but the two people, both the mother of these boys and Gregory had fallen asleep. How _could_ they sleep with this infernal noise? At least he sang during nights like these in The Unknown, but here even that wasn’t possible.

He moved toward one of the doors that the living room connected to, overlooking the garden. The mother didn’t open that door because it was easily soiled. It was a strange glass door that just had to slide, not a big deal.

The Beast finally went out into the garden, leaving the sliding door open. He would close it when he came back in, but that would be only when the sunlight threatened to appear.

After almost a week of being locked up without any chances to go outside, The Beast wanted – _needed_ to check something, and he couldn’t test it with any of the boy’s human relatives, that would be the first thing the Young Lover had suspected of him, or any of the human inhabitants here.

The Beast approached one of the corners of the garden and extended his hand to the ground. A stem began to be born and soon began to grow and elongated until reaching his hand and tangled in his arm.

A sparkle formed in his eyes. At the beginning of his arrival to this dimension he had only been able to create roots of Edelwoods but now the stems were larger and thicker than very soon it would begin to have leaves and with that he could be a powerful being again. And to think that all this was thanks to that magical surge that fell a few days ago, that explosion felt so irritably familiar. His whole being shouted to go out and look for that source but a part of him told him that it was better to wait.

Whatever it is, The Beast hated how familiar it felt.

“ _What can you know of families?_ ”

“Meow.”

The Beast turned his head toward the noise. An orange cat with black spots was on one of the fences in the garden, looked so calm, so stoic, looking at him from above - The cat jumped from the fence and walked towards The Beast, the demon took the cat in his arms. Small branches began to entangle themselves in the body of the cat.

 _If_ the Young Lover knew who his family had been, perhaps he wouldn’t have spoken so candidly.

The cat began to squirm in his arms, trying to scratch him but it was useless as he felt no physical pain. It would be so easy to have this animal as his first experiment, after all he hated cats.

The Beast let go of the cat, who hissed once more before freeing itself from the branches around it and running to the fence to get lost between the roof.

The Beast hated many things, cats, petulant children, betrayal against him but above all The Beast hated _him_.

* * *

 

**LQ WKH ROG GDBV, ZKHQ ZH ZHUH DOO RQH.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to me, everything is going well with the plot. According to you.... Well, I still love you anyway n.n
> 
> Seriously, I don't know how it happened to me to write this story, lately I've been writing crossovers, especially this one. It's a monster. Monster! Monster! But mama loves you my baby monster *hugs this fanfic* A few days ago my cousin and I saw 'The Mummy' with Tom Cruise, and, uh... It wasn't my cup of tea, but the phrase 'Welcome to a world of Gods and Monsters' was fantastic! I love it!
> 
> I hope you are enjoying this story, leave your comment, kudo, or bookmark it.
> 
> You can always contact me on Tumblr: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also some of my future stories: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/My-Fanfics)


	5. Old Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill Cipher is not the only one who is back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is a miracle! A Christmas miracle!
> 
> Someone: But it's not Christmas...
> 
> No, but it's the only way I can say to update this story. Which would take me years to finish *cries in a corner*
> 
> I'm about to finish this semester. I have no idea how it went but this week is the last of classes until we return in January to have exams and then we will know who lives and who dies... Wait, was that a Hamilton reference?
> 
> I want to thank my beta, [Spooky Baka](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyBaka), for correcting my mistakes. I know they were a lot, I'm so sorry!
> 
> And again, updating three stories!
> 
> Update: December/13/2017

_The garden once so red is now full of death_

_All is gone, torn apart are my dearest friends._

_Maybe I wanna hurt you violentely_

_All is gone, torn apart are my dearest friends!_

_Maybe I'm gonna hurt you violentely_

_Silently you will pay…_

… _You will pay for this._

_~ Violent Roses by Dark Sarah ~_

▲

This was unusual in more ways than one. And Dipper was willing to make a list of rare things that could possibly happen to him this summer, just to make sure he had a plan for each and every catastrophe.

In the first place he would write ' **Release Bill Cipher** ' (Dipper made a mental note: _Keep the list as far as possible from all the secret hiding places that Mabel might know_ ) and secondly he would write ' **See the Shape-Shifter** '. Interesting, right? With a bit of luck, the third event would be to ' _Fall into a well and travel to the past_ ', but that might be impossible... He would try to stay away from the bottomless pit for this summer... And possibly the following summers. Just in case.

A week before Summer began, McGucket had decided to return to the bunker, supposedly to be able to recover some of his memories and to collect some plans of machines that he had developed long ago. As the old inventor entered the laboratory area, the noise of dripping water caught his attention – Which was strange, since the water bill was canceled many years ago – And when he turned to look, he noticed that exactly where Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy had cryogenized the Shape-Shifter, the ice had begun to melt.

McGucket continued to report that as he approached he saw that there was no large silhouette, or a Dipper’s clone. Rather, there laid a small oval figure: an egg. One of the many reasons of why Stanford left the Shack, was that Bill Cipher’s constant presence and nepotism toward his family years ago, was due to McGucket’s calls about the egg.

The old scientist pondered a bit over why the Shape-Shifter had returned to that egg stage and came to the conclusion that the Shape-Shifter’s structure must have been somehow protected from aggressive weather changes... And from the ax wound made by Wendy. Ford need investigate _what_ those extraterrestrials were coming to do to their universe.

“So,” Dipper decided to talk while his sister and friends contemplated the remodeling of the mansion with Pacifica telling them what they could and couldn't touch – Because there were still valuable things, of course – “Did you call us here because you thought the egg had moved?”

“Not only that; I heard a crack coming from the egg.” McGucket had on thermal gloves, taking the extraterrestrial egg in his hands, “At any moment of the day our old enemy will be reborn.”

Dipper wasn’t sure if it would be great to see the Shape-Shifter again, especially when its last words were like a death sentence to him. This was in addition to knowing that neither Ford nor McGucket had had pleasant moments with the Shape-Shifter once the creature had reached a mature stage – Understatement very much intended.

“Fiddleford,” Stanford approached his former colleague, “Do you think it’s better if we have the egg here in freedom, instead of in a cage? You and I both know how difficult it was to have the Shape-Shifter locked in the Lab.”

“I know.” The old inventor looked down. “Although we were still novices on our first supernatural journey, and after all those strange things like fighting a hidden cult or traveling the Multiverse... What do you say old friend? At least for old times.” McGucket raised the egg to Ford’s face.

Stanford seemed reluctant to answer the question. Yes, Fidds seemed enthusiastic about the Shape-Shifter, but the scientist didn’t want this new experience to end in tragedy like thirty years ago. Stanford was about to say something when Mabel screamed, pointing to the egg in McGucket’s hands, which was already moving and

beginning to break.

“It’s happening!” McGucket shouted excitedly, “Pacifica! Bring the softest cushions you find in the kitchen!”

Pacifica nodded and ran in the direction of the kitchen while the others gathered around McGucket, who jumped for joy – Though carefully, as he didn't want to throw the egg to the ground. The teenage blonde finally arrived, leaving all the cushions on the table, onto which McGucket carefully deposited the egg.

Everyone present watched as a small crack began to form until it completely passed through the egg, then another crack in the surface, leaving it to show what appeared to be a strange pale yellow mass with a green slim running. Dipper thought it would have been better if he had called Wendy and Soos; after all it was the four of them who defeated the Shape-Shifter, and having them close in case the strange creature decided to do something dangerous, would be the most safe option.

A red eye with white pupils showed between one of the cracks to finally break the egg, leaving a strange and somewhat tender alien worm itself out of the egg. They all stood still before the newborn.

“Well, welcome to the world,” McGucket said as he moved his hand toward the Shape-Shifter, who was smaller than a cup of coffee, intent on taking it.

Luckily for all, this time McGucket wasn't swallowed by a thousand-year-old prehistoric creature, but was quickly grabbed by an alien of dubious antiquity. It was like seeing Stitch the first time he appears in front of Lilo, and hugs her; except this time it’s the Shape-Shifter who stretches out like a rubber band and tangles all over old McGucket's arm.

“Fiddleford!” Ford screams the moment the Shape-Shifter attacks; Dipper knew it, knew that something like this would happen he just had to make a simple call to Wendy and the woodcut girl would come to help them without hesitation –

“Wait, wait, wait!” McGucket waved the hand that was free of the Shape-Shifter’s grip to stop Ford from shooting the extraterrestrial newborn. “It’s not hurting me,” McGucket reported that his captured arm wasn’t injured, devoured or anything that fell into the category of severe damage to human skin. Instead, the Shape-Shifter was purring, like a small cat hugging the body of its mother.

“It’s true.” Mabel approached them with her friends just as curious, “It even looks cute.” Candy and Grenda nodded in agreement with their friend, even Pacifica seemed curious of the alien species, even though the only visible damage to her was the green saliva coming out of its mouth and sliding all over the old man’s arm.

The moment Mabel aimed a finger at the Shape-Shifter with clear intentions to caress it, the alien worm uncoiled slightly from McGucket’s arm and its small, fanged lips suddenly turned into a big snout with millions of fangs and threatening to wring a scab of flesh from the female twin’s finger. When Mabel and the other girls took a step back the Shape-Shifter’s monstrous mouth became normal again, curling around the inventor’s arm and purring.

Those present were a tad shocked, a tad worried and a _whole_ lot curious.

“Just to confirm,” Dipper decided to break the strange silence that had formed, “Has the Shape-Shifter just snarled at us and started treating McGucket as a surrogate mom?” If any of his friends or family said no, it was obvious that some influence of Bill Cipher was beginning to affect him.

Stanford stared unblinkingly at his old experiment coiled in his former companion's arm as if this were a snake, “Fidds, are you okay? Is there any muscle pain? Maybe the Shape-Shifter is numbing your arm to pull it off – ”

“C’mon old pal, the Shape-Shifter is only looking for maternal warmth.” _Oh great_ , the last thing they missed, that McGucket felt partially responsible for the Shape-Shifter, so much as to immediately accept that he was a maternal figure, just _great._

“Still, it will be better if we remove the Shape-Shifter from you.” Stanford approached McGucket, putting on gloves in case the Shape-Shifter has now evolved or modified any of its abilities. However, when Ford tried to get close to McGucket and touch the Shape-Shifter, it seemed to stand up like a cat, and the moment Ford touched it and tried to remove it from McGucket, the Shape-Shifter modified its body until make itself thinner and slip between Ford’s fingers to get lost in McGucket’s beard. Ford tried to take it back, but the Shape-Shifter changed again and just hissed before it curled deeper into the beard.

Had it not been for the Shape-Shifter, one of the first dangerous supernatural creatures they had ever encountered, then this whole scene would be like comedic scene straight out of an animated series, and certainly no one could help but laugh. A few moments after Ford had tired of uselessly trying to grab the Shape-Shifter, the strange worm clung to the old inventor’s beard and Ford gave up.

McGucket helped Ford to sit down and to the Shape-Shifter resting on his shoulder – Dipper might be hallucinating but he could swear it happened! – The Shape-Shifter seemed to make fun of his great-uncle.

“I know when I’ve been defeated,” Ford said. At this moment Dipper wondered if his presence was still necessary. Ford gave another look at the Shape-Shifter, “I still don’t care about it, I know it still remembers us, that’s why it acts that way.” The Shape-Shifter hissed again. “But I trust you, Fidds.” Stanford gave him a friendly smile.

“Thanks Ford.” McGucket thanked his friend and petted the Shape-Shifter, making it calm down in the presence of Ford.

“I see that you’ve everything under control, so you’ll probably no longer need our help.” Dipper approached both elders and the newborn alien, who didn’t stop seeing him with hate, yep, this _does_ remind him.

“Still, it was a good thing you two were here,” McGucket said. “I bet _Shifty_ likes to see you again, too.” Oh great, McGucket already gave him a name, it won’t be easy to snatch him away from the supernatural creature ever anymore. “Pacifica you can go out with your friends. Now Ford and I will take over the Shape-Shifter.”

The teenage blonde nodded, still shocked at the idea of a shape-shifting worm living as a parasite with McGucket’s body and she living in the same mansion, possibly accepting the idea of Grenda’s future sleepovers

Dipper and the rest of the other pubs were led by Pacifica. His last glimpse was to see the Shape-Shifter, _Shifty_ , hissing back at Ford and McGucket just laughing... Strangely, that seemed to be a familiar picture, and it was even stranger than anything he had seen thus far.

Once outside the mansion and on the way to the town – The limousine was no longer an option – Mabel was the first to break the silence, “Wow, what a great return to our favorite home. With _Shifty_ – ” Well, it was official, they could never get away from that now, “And with a crazyyyy...” Mabel stopped talking as she noticed her slip-up, and the twins looked at each other; they had to think of something quickly. “With a crazy summer waiting for us.”

“Yes!” Candy and Grenda gleefully raised their fists in the air. Pacifica arched an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it, after that strange summer nothing could surprise her anymore.

“We should celebrate,” Candy proposed. “Not every day you see how an alien is born and doesn’t try to enter through your mouth and then burst your chest. When my aunt greets a new baby in the hospital she says it’s a good reason to celebrate for the new life,” She added.

“Young teenagers like us, where should we go?” Grenda asked, although everyone already knew the answer.

“To the mall!” In unison, the four girls shouted enthusiastically.

Dipper rolled his eyes, this was the signal he needed to leave - Except he felt someone take him by the arms and begin to drag him the opposite direction he was going for. “Nope, Bro-Bro, we promised to leave the Shack to visit old friends and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Dipper sighed, it was useless to resist; Not only because Mabel and Grenda were stronger than him, but because he also wanted to stay away from the Shack, and from Bill Cipher.

However, on their way to the mall, now with Dipper walking relatively voluntarily with them, the group was struck by the number of teenagers and children outside the Arcade Video Games. They all looked annoying and angry, screaming and complaining to the owner of Arcade, who showed no concern for the crowd. Among them was Robbie.

“Robbie!” Mabel shouted, managing to make the young Gothic spin towards them.

He approached the group, “Sup, twins.”

“Why all the fuss?” Dipper asked, he had planned to stay near the Arcade in case the mall wasn’t enjoyable for him, play some video games like every normal teenager.

“The video games don’t work.” Robbie looked at the Arcade with a clearly angry look. “Well, it’s not that they don’t work but we insert the coins and the video games start only that’s the weird thing.”

“What do you mean?” Dipper questioned.

“Video games start without their characters. It’s as if everything starts like it does regularly, except without the characters. Zarpy, Princess Strawberry, Dwayne Bros, Ultratron, they all don’t appear. And we want our money back!” Robbie yelled straight at the owner of the arcade, the man only shrugged.

The twins turned to each other, a clear sign of bewilderment from both sides. “It would be much easier if we see for ourselves.” Dipper proposed.

“You can enter through the back door, nobody ever watches. No one has done it because the video games don’t work and we are still waiting for our money back!” Robbie said before returning with the other enraged boys.

“We should go to investigate,” Dipper said. “It may seem like a technical problem, but my paranormal investigator senses tell me that this is serious.”

“Does that mean we’ll meet you at the mall?” Mabel asked.

“It means we’ll meet at the Shack,” Nodded Dipper, and he left the group.

He snuck his way into the crowd, looking around himself to observe every slight detail. Everyone was seriously annoyed. He could in some way understand them, he would be annoyed too if any of his video games didn’t work. That would definitely be a scam (It felt ironic that _he_ was the one thinking this, as the one and only Stanley Pines’ nephew). Just like Robbie had said, no one was taking notice of the back door, so getting into the Arcade was a lot easier than getting into the cinema had been.

It wasn't the first time he saw an empty Arcade and no youngsters playing; once when he was in elementary school – The first time he decided ditching was to the Arcade – He was the only child in the building, and that day he got a good toy gun from his favorite movie. (Only Mabel knew that, though he was quite proud of that particular achievement.)

The first thing Dipper saw and heard when entering the place was video games, and although it seemed normal, it was also strange. All video game screens were on, but they were also too empty not to notice anything. There was no character voice, nor was there any sound other than the background music of each video game.

Dipper walked through the halls of the Arcade, all video games looked the same.

Dipper bit his inner cheek at the thought of a decision, a probably very bad decision. He cautiously approached where Rumble McSkirmish’s arcade was. If he pressed the buttons again as the super combo said he could bring back to the video game character, and maybe he would find out if they had indeed all disappeared. He looked down onto the box, finding the secret code. Left, left, P, P, um. Right, left? He’ll look down again when he’s done with that part, he thinks.

When inserting his coin, Dipper pressed the buttons with the joysticks of the game (Only having to look back to the code once more), and waited a few seconds for Rumble to appear. Though, after the first ten seconds of waiting to no avail, Dipper decided to try again, and again without results.

So he opted for the traditional method, looking into his pockets for his last spare change, he inserted the coin into the slot. The video game rebooted and the company logo and video game name appeared and exactly as Dipper had assumed, there was no character at the beginning of the video game, Dipper moved the levers and pressed the buttons to select a character and obviously there were none.

“Where have they gone?”

Dipper breathed shakily; It was obvious that something strange was happening here.

First Bill Cipher, then the Shape-Shifter, and now this supposedly technical video game failure.

Well, there was nothing here for the moment that could help him. It would be better to return later together with Mabel and the others. They would probably be excited to return to the mystery hunting business. Now it’s time to join the crowd and ask for a 60 cent refund he just lost. Dipper opened the back door, looked back once more, and left.

Behind him, the screens of all Arcade games turned off and on again with a pale yellow background, almost discolored. Petals of sakura blossom fell from the top of the screens.

* * *

 

**DBQ RM ZILPB QL VLRO BKBJFBP.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you believed that Bill and the other demons were the only stars of this show, there are still more surprises to come *Sits down, while laughing evilly and caresses a white cat*
> 
> Guys, thank you very much for reading this new chapter. Don't forget to leave a comment, bookmark, or kudo. They know that they are very well appreciated. You can also ask me, if you want, of course.
> 
> Also, do not forget to take a look at my other stories ;)
> 
> See you soon! And if I don't get to update again in this month or in January, Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!
> 
> You can always contact me on Tumblr: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also some of my future stories: [Here](http://iprincezzinuyoukai.tumblr.com/My-Fanfics)


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